Change in Time
by Gemini ice 39
Summary: Lily, James, and the other Marauders go forward in time and meet, who else, Harry. Now Harry must decide, will he save his parents and Sirius, or will he lose them all over again. Can he save them without risking the future? Will Dumbledore try to save
1. Default Chapter

Starts off in the Maraduer Era and then it's TIME TRAVEL to the Harry Potter Era!  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own it, wish I did.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"JAMES!" was the shout that echoed through the Great Hall.  
  
"The sound of an angel's soft beating wings," Sirius cooed mockingly to James.  
  
"James if I told you once I've told you a millon times STOP leaving gifts for me, I'll never go out with you!" Lily roared as she stormed up to James with a stuffed white tiger that was purring, clutched in her hand.  
  
"I seen it and thought of you." James said softly.  
  
"Why on Earth would a tiger remind you of me?" She yelled.  
  
"I.... I don't know." James said hesitently.  
  
"Don't lie James," Sirius said snickering. "You know damn well why you got it for her."  
  
James sat there silently with Lily staring back and forth between them.  
  
"Well since you won't tell her James, I will. He got it for you because your name is Lily and lilies are white, and because your his little Tiger Lily." Sirius said trying not to laugh. "He explained it to us when he bought it." Now Remus was trying hard not to laugh as he remebered that look on James face when he calls Lily his 'Tiger Lily', because she so firey, like a Tiger.  
  
Lily couldn't suppress her embaressment or rage, "JAMES! I'M NOT YOURS AND I NEVER WILL BE!" She threw the tiger in his bacon and eggs, and stormed out of the Great Hall.  
  
"Bit touchy this morning I think she was." Sirius stated.  
  
James bit his lip, "WHY did you tell her that! She didn't need to know!"  
  
"Well she asked didn't she?" Sirius said innocently, "Apparently she wanted to know or she wouldn't have asked. I could have let her beat it out of you instead, but did I, no."  
  
"Besides it did seem kind of sweet." Remus said and couldn't help but grin.  
  
"Oh shut up, she still hates me doesn't she. Why, why won't she go out with me, I mean lots of other girls do why not her?" James asked as he got up and started towards the door.  
  
"I think an easier question to answer would be why do you want her so bad. Like you said, tons of girls want to date you and most of them are good- looking, what are you so stuck on Lily for?" Sirius said as a group of giggling girls passed them.  
  
"Yeah, that is a good question James. You have tons of girls goggling over you daily, sure wish I could get at least one." Peter huffed.  
  
"Yeah, try liking someone else for a change." Remus agreed.  
  
"See, even mister smarty pants agrees with me. Liking only one girl, it's just not healthy." Sirius said shuddering at the thought.  
  
"You guys just don't get it, there is just.........something about her. I don't quite get it myself." James said shaking his head hopelessly.  
  
They had arrived at the pink lady's portrait. "Banana Fritters," James said dully and the portrait swung open to admitt them.  
  
"Do we have Charms homework tonight?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Yes we have some kind of mystery charm we have to figure out." Remus replied.  
  
"Great just what I need, homework." Peter grumbled.  
  
"Don't worry, we all have to do it so let's just all do it together. Maybe we will finish faster." James said while he yawned.  
  
"Can we pull a prank on the Slytherins first?" Sirius asked putting his best pouty face look on, and flopped down on a chair.  
  
"Yeah, I need some fun right now." James sighed also sitting down. "But what prank should we pull?"  
  
"It has to be something crafty." Remus said thinking.  
  
"But we can't get caught." Peter squeaked.  
  
"Wish we had something that would prevent us from getting caught" Sirius complained.  
  
"Hey, that just gave me an idea, it's not a prank though, it's something to prevent us from getting caught." Remus said fastly.  
  
Sirius was now sitting up straight in his chair. "What is it?" He breathed.  
  
"A map." Remus said excitedly.  
  
"A map? How can that stop us from being caught?" Peter asked stupidly.  
  
"Shut it Pete, it's perfect!" James said. "We could make it show everyone who is in Hogwarts and where they are at."  
  
"And make it so it shows people who are under invisibility cloaks and polyjuice potion. It's should show some of the secret passages we found too." Sirius said practically jumping out of his chair.  
  
"We should also put some kind of password on it so only we can see it." added Remus thoughtfully. "I read about a spell of some sort that did something like that, but i don't quite remember it."  
  
"So what are we sitting here for?! Off to the library!" Sirius yelled already leading the way.  
  
"Never thought I'd hear Sirius saying he wanted to go to the library." James said following him.  
  
When they got to the library they spotted Lily at a table covered in books, and to James' suprise Sirius led them straight to her.  
  
"Hey Lily what's with all the books?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Charms homework." Lily said simply.  
  
"Oh did you find out what the mystery charm was?" Remus questioned.  
  
"No but I think I have a pretty good idea, he gave us clues to what book it was in and i think it is this one." She held up a huge goldish bronze colored book.  
  
"Well aren't you going to open it?" Peter asked.  
  
"Actually I'm kind of scared to, there are dangerous books and I'm sure it wouldn't be in one, but if you look at the cover it has no title so I don't know what to expect." Lily said blushing slightly.  
  
"Nonsense, they wouldn't have a dangerous book here." Sirius said joyfully and grabbed the book from her and opened it.  
  
"NO don't!" Lily screamed, but it was too late. The room had started spinning. When it stopped they found themselves sprawled on the floor of the library, right at the feet of some other students.  
  
"Sirius you IDOIT, why did you open that book when I told you not to!" Lily screamed. But that was all she could scream because the next minute she was practically gasping for air. "Tw-tw-t-two James's?!"  
  
"Mom? Dad? Wh-wh..........? Sirius?"  
  
Harry almost knocked the table over by jumping to the floor next to Sirius and hugging him uncontrollably.  
  
"Oh Sirius I'm so glad your back I knew you weren't dead, but what happened when you fell through that veil thing?" Harry said holding Sirius tightly as if he let him go for a second he would dissappear like a wisp of smoke.  
  
"Uh-uh who are you?" Sirius asked in a strangled voice. But Harry wasn't listening he was looking at Lily and James with his mouth open for he finally realized once again that they were there too.  
  
"Mom. Dad." Harry whispered.  
  
"Um I think you a very nice person too, maybe a little to friendly but nice all the same." Sirius was rambling, but once again Harry wasn't listening. He stopped hugging Sirius abrubtly and flung himself at his parents, who were both caught off gaurd.  
  
"Mom, Dad, I can't believe you guys are really here." Harry said breathlessly. Then he caught sight of Peter, "YOU!" he snarled letting go of his parents and lunging at Peter.  
  
"Harry, STOP!" Hermione yelled from the table where her, Ron, and Ginny were still sitting. Harry stopped less than a foot a way from Peter, who was screaming his head off.  
  
He turned and looked at Hermione, "What?" he said.  
  
"Harry, look at them." Hermione pointed out. Harry slowly turned back towards them and gasped.  
  
"They are our age." Harry said.  
  
"Exactly, excuse me, exuse me, uh Sirius," Hermione asked him slowly, "how did you get here?" But it was Lily who answered.  
  
"That IDIOT opened the book I told him not to!" she screamed.  
  
"Well what good would it have done to keep it closed?" Sirius snapped back.  
  
"Well we probably wouldn't be here to start with.................Where are we anyway?" Lily said.  
  
"You're in the future." Harry said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ``````````````````````````````````````~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
a/n- Hey please review I never get reviews and i need some, even if it's a flame. 


	2. Realizatons

A/N: Thanks for reviewing! ============================================================================ ========= Chapter 2  
  
"We are WHERE?! The future you have got to be kidding me!" Lily said. Then she rounded on Sirius, "Why did you open that book, WHY! Why didn't you just listen to me and keep it SHUT!" she roared.  
  
"How was I supposed to know it would take us into the future?" Sirius yelled back, he thought for a moment and then said, "But hey, it can have its advantages."  
  
"WHAT are you going on about." Lily asked.  
  
Sirius grinned and said, "This could be a good thing. Think about it, we can find out what we are going to be like in the future and what we are doing now. Or maybe the question is what we have done because if you remember this kid just called you 'mom' and if you ask me he looks quite a lot like James."  
  
Lily froze staring at who Sirius was pointing at. He did look like James, except for his eyes. "Your eyes......." she gasped at Harry. Then she looked at James who was looking very confused.  
  
"Looks like you get what you wish for after all James." Sirius said tauntingly.  
  
Lily went red and glared at both James and Sirius shaking with suppressed rage. James took this moment to hit Sirius upside the head and yell, "Can you EVER keep your mouth SHUT!"  
  
Lily was taken by suprise, she never heard James yell, ecspecially not at Sirius. And why was James blushing like that, he looked kind of cute when he blushed, but maybe that was just from anger.  
  
"Look thats not important right now, whats important is what we are going to do about this." Hermione said logically. "I think we should get out of here as soon as possible so we don't attract any attention from Madame Pince."  
  
"But where do we take them, I mean what if a teacher sees us, they will recognize them!" Ron whispered to her.  
  
"We'll take them to Dumbledore he should know what to do." Hermione answered.  
  
"Wait a second, I'm not going to Dumbledore, we'll get into trouble!" Peter said.  
  
"You should be used to it by now." Lily snapped at him.  
  
So they started on their way out and Sirius grumbled, "Am I allowed to talk yet?!"  
  
"No your not, not until you learn that there is stuff you should keep to yourself!" James snapped back.  
  
"Well it's not like anybody doesn't know! You've only been in love with her for how long! Somebody should say more if you ask me!" Sirius exploded.  
  
"Well nobody asked you did they!" James yelled.  
  
Lily stared at the pair of them, wow this was weird, she never seen this side of James. It was actually not too bad. He was kinda cute. Her thoughts were cut short however when they arrived in front of the stone gargoyle and Harry said, "Sugar quill." The gargoyle spang to life and left the way to the moving spiral stairs open. So they all stepped on and made their way steadily to the door leading to Dumbledore's office. When they approached the door however, it opened for them. Dumbledore was standing there smiling.  
  
"I was wondering when you would get here." He said, his eyes twinkling.  
  
They all stood there in shock, that is all of them except for Sirius who said, "Don't know what you all are so shocked about, the man does kow everything."  
  
Dumbledore smile widened and said, "Well, you can come in and sit down or we could have a discussion right here."  
  
They filed in and took seats that Dumbledore had obviously conjurned there earlier. "So if I may ask," Dumbledore said slowly as he took a seat in his chair, "how did you all get here?"  
  
A/N: Yea I know it is super short and I'm sorry I just can't think of anything right now. I wrote the beginning of this chapter like forever ago when i was getting some reviews, and then my computer started acting weird and not letting me get to my desktop and when i finally got it back recently I couldn't find it! But i searched a little bit today and found it under a completely different name, which was kinda strange I must say. So I am going to have to reread my previous chapters, but hey this is better than nothing right? Thanks to all of those who reviewed, please do it again. Hopefully I will be able to update soon! Your reviews will definalty motivate me though! 


	3. Chapter 3

a/n-Wow you will all find this funny. I write the 3rd chapter, and boy was it long, then I get halfway through the 4th and the my computer died. I would start it up and it would get to the desktop and when it would start loading the icons the screen would turn black. So my dad took it and him and my grandad were trying to find out what was wrong with it, but couldn't. So they built me a new one. So my chapters are gone, serves me right for not updating, right. And I'm sorry it took this long.

They all took their seats in Dumbledore's office and were watching him expectantly.

"I assume you all coming here was an accident." Dumbledore said calmly.

Lily stared disbelievingly at him, "Accident? Try catastrophe, and it's all your FAULT Sirius! Why do you always come up with ways to turn the simplest stuff into a disaster!"

"I didn't do it on purpose! How many times do I have to tell you! Why don't you stop blaming me so we can find a way to get back!" Sirius roared back at her.

Dumbledore fixed them all with his piercing stare, "And may I ask how this happened?"

Both Lily and Sirius were about to start yelling again but James cut them off and silenced them with a glare, "The short version is, we were all in the library with some mysterious book and someone opened it and here we are. Now can I ask you where exactly we are and what is going on?"

"Hmmmm, interesting, you don't by any chance remember the name of this book do you?" Dumbledore asked seriously.

Lily looked around at them all realizing that no one did, she sighed and quietly said, "No, we didn't see a title on it."

"That will make it difficult for us to return you to your proper time," Dumbledore mumbled distractedly. "I guess you will just have to stay here until we figure out send you back."

"Or we could stay with our future selves, I'm sure they, or is it we, wouldn't mind. I want to see what I am like in the future!" Sirius said excitedly. He looked over to Lily and James and smirked, " After all, we know that Lily and James get together and have a kid."

Lily and James both went bright red and looked at the ground. Lily then looked back up and said, "Yea, lets go stay with our future selves , I want to ask mine what the hell she was thinking!"

"No you will stay here. You must stay close by in order to help us find a way to get you back to your time." Dumbledore said quickly. "You will stay in Gryffindor Tower, I will set up a dorm for the boys and Ms. Evans can stay in Ms. Granger and Ms. Weasley's room."

Harry looked up to find Dumbledore looking at him sadly. He had felt numb through everything, ever since he found out that they came from the past. His parents were here, and so was Sirius. He could tell them what was going to happen, and stop it. He could stop all of it, stop them all from dying because of him. He could fix everything. Maybe even get the chance to be happy. But what would happen to the world if he did tell them? Would everything still turn out this way, or maybe it'd turn out worse. His thoughts were cut short when he heard Dumbledore's voice,

"Harry could I have a word with you?", Harry nodded slightly and Dumbledore turned to the others, "Ms. Granger, Ms. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, could you take Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black, and Mr. Pettigrew to Gryffindor Tower and show them where they will be sleeping?"

Hermione nodded and began ushering all of them out of the office and toward the Gryffindor common room. As soon as they left Dumbledore looked at Harry who continued to sit there silently with a blank look plastered on his face. After a minute of silence Dumbledore spoke,

"Harry, I know how you feel and I know what you want to do, but you know that you must not tell them their fates."

Harry responded harshly as he stood up from his chair, "Why not? I could save them! It would stop all of this. They would be alive, they would all be alive and it would be better. It would fix everything!"

Dumbledore moved swiftly towards him and grabbed him by the shoulders forcing him to look him in the face and said gently, "You know it would fix nothing, you know that you can't stop them from dying because others would, the world could be destroyed! As hard as it is you can't tell them because the night your parents died was the night Voldemort disappeared. You survived from their sacrifice, and because you survived so did the world."

"But that doesn't matter anymore, Voldemort is back anyway." Harry yelled.

Dumbledore shook him gently and said, "But it does matter, it makes all the difference, Voldemort would be more powerful if your parents didn't die, he would have had 16 more years in power and there is no telling how powerful he could become from that!"

Harry looked at his feet and mumbled softly, "I know……I know I can't tell them. I just……..wish there was something I could do."

Dumbledore softened his gaze, "I know, I want them to live too. But there is no way that can happen." Harry continued to nod sadly and Dumbledore let go of him and walked back to his desk and said, "Now that I know you understand Harry, you can go back to Gryffindor tower, I suspect you will want to spend some time with them before I find a way to send them back. It is a good thing that it is Christmas break." Harry nodded again and proceeded to leave the office.

GINNY POV (This is when they are taking them to the common room while Dumbledore is talking to Harry, I know strange POV but I wanted to switch real quick and this is who I picked. Oh and I've never really done a certain character POV before, this should be interesting! Oh and _ italics thoughts. _I hope the italics show up!)

Everyone was walking in silence and I was walking at the back of the group. _I sure hope that Harry is ok. He must feel horrible having his parents here but not being able to say anything, it would change everything. But then again maybe this should change. It's not right for Harry to have to deal with everything on his own. I want to help but he won't let me in. He doesn't let Ron or Hermione in either, even though they don't seem to notice it I do. He's always so guarded, and Sirius dying certainly didn't help. He's not over it, and he won't let himself be over it. I want to know why. I'll get him to open up to me, someday. _

"So what is your name?" Lily asked me.

I shook my head slightly as to clear my thoughts and looked up at her, "I'm sorry what did you say?"

Lily laughed lightly and said, "I asked what your name is."

"Oh, my name is Ginny…Ginny Weasley, I'm sorry about that I was just all caught up in my thoughts and I didn't hear you." I said chuckling a bit.

She laughed again and said, "It's ok I understand, that happens to me a lot, I'll just get so deep into thinking about something I have no idea what is going on around me. Anyway, my name is Lily Evans."

"Yea I know." I replied. She looked at me thoughtfully and slowed down a bit so there was a big gap between us and the rest of the group.

"You seem like a person I can trust and I wanted to ask you about something," Lily whispered.

Warnings went off in my head. _Oh my gosh, she knows, we were acting too suspicious, she knows something is up. But then again maybe she doesn't, I can't just say no I won't answer your question, oh I hope she doesn't ask me about her future self. Oh please don't let her ask about her future self_. So I did the only thing I could, looked at her and said,

"Yea sure, what's on your mind?"

She came to a complete stopped and looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Harry is my son and James is his father right?"

I looked at her for a moment and slowly said, "Yea." I couldn't see where this was going, was that it or was there more?

She answered my silent question when she continued, "When did I get together with James, why did I get together with him? I've always hated James and I just can't see myself with him. He was always such a jerk and picked on people, but in the future I am supposed to marry him!"

"James isn't a bad guy, and he really likes you. I know you probably can't see it now but when you do see it you fall in love with him too. Part of you does like him now, doesn't it?" I said thanking Sirius in my head for telling me that stuff over the summer when he commented how Ron and Hermione acted like them.

She looked surprised for a second and then said, "Well I guess I don't totally hate him, but I wouldn't go as far as that I liked him. Lets just leave it as he's not so bad and I can tolerate him."

"Deal." I said and we started walking again.

Suddenly she said, "You like my son don't you?"

I nearly fell over in shock! I looked over at her to see a big smile on her face, "How did you know, is it that obvious?"

"No, it's not obvious. I guess you would just have to call it maternal instinct. I guess that's what lets me see how you two look at each other." Lily said casually. I was speechless, I just watched her in awe. _Not only did she know that I liked her son, but she also said she thinks he likes me. And to top it all off she figured it out in less then 20 minutes with us. Interesting. So this is how Harry's mom is, truthfully I have to say, I kinda like her. _I smiled to myself a little bit. I wasn't prepared for what she said next.

"But something bothers me, he seems so sad. Why is he sad, what is going on with him? And then there was his reaction to us….it was like he hadn't seen us in a long time. Are we what makes him sad? But what did we do?" Lily asked thoughtfully more to herself than to me. I had no idea what to say, so I just didn't say anything. Suddenly she looked at me, just kind of stared at me like it was her first time seeing me, and then she said, "You know don't you, you know why he's sad?"

I stared back at her sadly and slowly nodded my head, "Yea, I know why he's sad. But I can't tell you."

She stopped me and looked at me for another moment and said, "I understand that you can't tell me. But can I count on you to fix it for him?"

She had no idea what she was asking me to do, but then again I felt like she did. "Yea, you can count on me to find a way to fix it for him."

A/N- Wow can you believe it I updated! Guess I did find a bit of inspiration. I'm gonna write a bit more tonight after I post this. I just got home from wrestling camp practice thingy and I can't motivate myself to move from the computer, guess that works in your favor huh. Anyway I know I'm a terrible, terrible person for not updating sooner and don't deserve reviews …….but I'd really appreciate some! J


	4. Chapter 4

A/N- Wow I am sure on a roll tonight. I dunno why but I just want to write. Very unusual. Anyway on with the story!

"Nothing has changed, well not much anyway." Sirius said from the bed of his new dorm that Dumbledore set up for them. It was just the four of them in there. Harry and Ron were in their usual room a floor above them. James sprawled out onto his new bed also.

"So James, how do you feel about being a dad?" Remus asked from the window.

" I dunno, it's kind of strange really. I just wonder what he's like." James answered thoughtfully.

"What he's like? Well I bet he's just like you James, after all you did raise him and James Potter wouldn't raise his son to be a stick-in-the-mud. Why I bet he loves to do all the things we like to do. I bet he loves pulling pranks, and quidditch, and I bet he spends every other night in detention just like us!" Sirius yawned a bit then continued, "He seems to be a person that gets into a lot of mischief, he probably turns this place upside down better than we ever did! After all he did have his father and godfather to teach him all the tricks-of-the-trade!"

"Godfather?" said James bewildered. "What the hell are you talking about with this godfather stuff?"

Sirius face-faulted and then said in a huff, "Well who else would you name godfather of your son! I can't believe after all the trouble we caused you would go and name someone else the godfather of your first born. I'm insulted! Who is going to teach him the stuff you can't if I'm not his godfather? Who is he going to be able to trust and talk to if I'm not the godfather? I can't believe I thought of you as my brother!"

James laughed, but the look on Sirius's face told him that he was serious, or at least a little bit. James stopped laughing quickly and put his hand on Sirius's shoulder, "You're right. I would name you godfather. I don't know a person that could relate better to my son, especially if he's in any way like me. You are my brother and there is no way that anyone would stop me from naming you godfather, not even Lily."

Sirius grinned a bit and hit James really hard with his pillow and said in a girly voice, "Awww, I knew you cared." James knew it was just to break the sentimental atmosphere and that Sirius was really happy so he went along with it.

"So if you wonder what he's like, why don't you just go ask him?" Peter said suddenly.

"You know I think rat boy is right for once, lets go talk to him and see what he likes and stuff!" Sirius said excitedly hopping off his bed and running towards the door.

IN HARRY'S ROOM

Harry had just finished telling Ron about what Dumbledore had talked to him about.

"So what are you going to do? Are you going to tell them?" Ron asked quietly

"No, I can't. It would be selfish because it could cause a lot of problems." Harry replied dully.

"Well I guess all you can do is enjoy the time you have with them." Ron said softly.

Harry nodded for a minute until he realized, _I can't enjoy my time with them knowing that I'll lose them again. All my life I wished to know my parents, and now I have that chance, I still can't. Losing them once was bad enough, but I never knew what they were like. If I know what they're like, it will hurt so much more when I lose them again. I'll have to feel the pain that I did when Sirius died. I can't take that again. What am I supposed to do? I can't just set myself up again._

"I hope we aren't interrupting you from your thinking." Sirius said from in front of his face, he was nearly 2 inches away from the tip of his nose. Harry scrambled back in shock and fell off his bed. The room roared with laughter.

"What were you doing? How long have u been there?" Harry asked while his breathing returned to normal.

"Well we've been in the room for about 5 minutes, but I was only in front of your face for 1." Sirius replied through his laughter.

"And what, you couldn't prod me or something?" Harry snapped clambering back onto his bed.

"We tried, but you were so deep into your thoughts that you didn't even notice." James said smiling.

"Must get it from your mother." said Sirius thoughtfully.

"Anyway, we came up here to find out some more about you." said James as he took a seat on the end of Harry's bed.

"Yea and about our future selves." piped up Peter.

Harry glared at him and then turned back to his father, "What do you want to know?"

Sirius spoke up then, "First things first, lets ask him the really important question, am I your godfather?"

Harry smiled slightly, "Yes you are my godfather."

"I knew it, there isn't anyway this kid could've turned out so well if I wasn't his godfather!" said Sirius clapping a hand onto his shoulder and beaming at him. "Now tell me this, do we get along well, we're friends right? I must be the coolest godfather in the world right. Now tell your father that, I don't think he believes it! Questioning my godfather abilities, the nerve of him right!"

Harry looked down smiling slightly, he was quiet for a minute.

"Uhh, we do get along right?' Sirius asked tensely, Harry's silence was worrying him.

"Oh what, yea we get along. Sirius was one of the best friends I had." Harry said realizing that he never answered the question. He looked at his father again and smiled sadly and said, "Sirius was the best thing that you've ever given me. He helped me a lot, and taught me a lot of stuff. He always risked everything for me. I owe him everything, even my life. He was the best."

Sirius beamed at him again and said, "See James I told you I would make a great godfather, you heard him, I was the best." Then the words really hit him, "Wait, I was the best? What do you mean?"

Harry looked up at him with fear in his eyes, "I'm such an idiot!"

Sirius was looking at him confused. "Tell me what you meant! Did I do something? Do you hate me now or something?"

"No, you didn't do anything, it was my fault. All my fault. All of it was." Harry said looking at James and walked out of the room.

"What was that about?" asked Peter from his corner.

"I have no idea." said Remus.

"Ron do you know what that was about?" asked James.

Ron looked at him for a minute and chose his words carefully, "Harry is having a bit of a hard time right now. He has…some problems that are going on and we don't know why. I should probably tell you that Harry isn't a person to talk about his feelings, he's always been that way. If he wants you to know he will tell you. But don't go asking him about it. It is a sensitive subject."

They all just stared at him.

"He's just a teenage boy, how difficult could his problems be?" James asked.

"You'd be surprised. I think I am going to go eat lunch, see you all later." Ron said as he quickly left them in the room.

"What kind of problems could he have?" James wondered.

Sirius was thinking on that and then he remembered to when they first got here and what Harry had said while clinging to him, '……I knew you weren't dead……'

SIRIUS'S POV

'……_..I knew you weren't dead…….' So I die apparently. I wonder how I died. That must be part of Harry's problem. Now that I think about what he said it makes sense. How he said 'was' all the time. He seemed very upset about me dieing. How could me dieing affect him so much, he still has his parents and his friends. It's not like I abandoned him. Or maybe he feels like I did. And he said that it was his fault. That must be it, he thinks he's the reason I died. I have to go talk to him._

"Guys I think I'm gonna go for a walk." I said.

James looked at me questioningly, "You want me to go with you?"

"No I'll be ok, I just need to think." I said putting on a grin and leaving the room.

_Now where could he be? Where would he go? I guess I'll just have to look for him. So where should I look first? Where would I go?_

I started walking towards the grounds. Maybe he would be by the lake. When I got there I saw him sitting against a beech tree, his face in his hands. I walk toward him slowly as to not startle him and sat down next to him.

"Hey there, Harry." He looked up at me and starting shaking his head,

"I'm sorry." He started but I cut him off.

"Sorry about what, me dieing?" Harry just looked at me surprised so I continued, "I remembered what you said when we first got here."

A/N- ok yea I know, I didn't mean to stop here but I couldn't help it. I have it written down but I so don't want to type right now. I'll update ASAP though. Most likely I'll start writing the next chapter before I go to wrestling camp. It's the last day today, I won't wake up sore anymore, YESSS! I swear I woke up yesterday and it hurt to bend my fingers! Lol, so anyway thanks for the reviews, I got 3 in like a day, so I'm happy and want to thank them.

Beastgurl7492- Thanks, and well it's here! Just for you guys, don't you feel special. I'll try to update soon again.

Pandas rule the world- Hmmm, I'm not sure yet. Maybe. Do you want him to? I'm sure I could put it in, let me know. Thanks for the review!

Dragon- Thanks for the review, it was fun to read. Yea I noticed that they didn't say anything after I posted. I don't know what happened there, guess I just forgot about them. I'm definently going to be more aware of that in the future. And w/ James acting kinda shy now, that's cuz he's getting kind of desperate (lol). I just figured that Lily would never date him if he continued acting that way because she thought he was a jerk. Now he realizes that its not going to work if he keeps being cocky around her so he is trying to be gulp nicer. And it's working! Lol, she said she could tolerate him, big improvement huh. Don't worry I'm still going to make him cocky most of the time, but he is going to try to hide it from Lily! They are still in shock about being parents, but they are sort of attached to him in some way. But I think I want to make a conversation between the two of them about it, which would show their feelings about it. And I know it's not original, but that's not what I'm going for really, I just really like time travel fics and felt like writing one. But my other fic isn't time travel. I hope Dumbledore lets you speak again, I'm looking forward to reading another review. Thanks again.

I LOVE ALL YOU REVIEWERS! I THINK ABOUT ALL OF YOU AND CAN'T HELP BUT SMILE!

GRINS

P.S.- I know I suck at writing, and I'm trying to work on it, lol, but I just can't seem to get it. I'm going to work super hard on the next chap. I want to get all the characters right. I'll update soon, I promise. And if I make a promise, I keep it! Hope everyone is good!


	5. Conversations

Disclaimer: I don't own it...and sadly I never will!

STILL IN SIRIUS POV

Harry continued to just look at me with shock, and maybe a bit of confusion. I finally decided to break the silence, "So can I ask how?"

He was quiet for a moment and looked towards his feet,

"Well, I can't explain a lot because it could change the future, and as much as I want that to happen, it would be a problem. You already know too much." I nodded silently urging him to continue, and so he began in a monotonous voice, "I should probably start by saying Voldemort wants me dead. About 16 years ago, something happened. I can't explain why or how, but Voldemort tried to kill me using the killing curse and it backfired. All I got was this scar," he lifted his bangs to reveal the lighting shaped scar, "but Voldemort was reduced to something barely alive. He fled into hiding. When I came to Hogwarts, I confronted him twice before he actually returned to power. That happened when I was 14. No one believed that he returned, besides Dumbledore and them I mean. I was the one to witness it, and the ministry decided that my word was not reliable. They thought I was dangerous...and delusional. Dumbledore reunited the Order of the Phoenix shortly after Voldemort returned. Which you were also in. Anyway, at the end of my 5th year, Voldemort sent me a vision that he had captured you. And me stupidly believing that it was real went out to save you." Harry began shaking his head and managed to choke out, "Hermione warned me. She told me I was 'acting the hero' again, and playing into his hands. I was too stubborn to believe her. I tried to check for you, I did. Kreacher told me you had gone there."

He choked back his sob and I put my arm around him carefully, it seemed to calm him some because he began to speak again. "Anyway, I went off to save you. Dragging others along in the process, but not intentionally. When we got there, it was a trap. He never had you, he just wanted to lure me there to get something for him so he wouldn't have to expose himself to the world. He wanted information on how to destroy me, and he discovered you were the person I cared most about in the world. Me and the others managed to escape the Death Eaters for awhile, but eventually they had me cornered. Just when I was about to give them it, you showed up with Lupin and a few others. You guys were beating the Death Eaters, and you were in a duel with Bellatrix...you died. You died because I tried to save you, but you ended up saving me. Now you see why it's my fault." He shook his head holding back another sob, "It's all my fault. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I looked at him in surprise. Throughout his whole story I had been silent. I thought that I would be more upset with my supposed fate. But I wasn't. Not at all. "Harry," I began and felt myself smiling slightly, "I thought you would have known me better!"

Harry stared at me obviously confused.

"To start with, I want you to understand something. Me dieing was NOT your fault! Not at all, so I don't want you to say sorry about that anymore because I'm not." I said looking him directly in the eyes.

Harry began shaking his head and said, "But if I didn't believe that vision, then you would still be alive and..."

I cut him off sharply by saying, "Don't you even start that now. Don't even think it! I'm the one who dies, so I think I should get to be the one to place the blame on someone. And it is definitely not your fault."

"Then who's is it?" He asked incredulously.

"Voldemort's." I said not hesitating one bit. "Look Harry, I know myself and...wait, that's kind of a duh...how do I get that to make sense?" Harry laughed a little and then I went on, "Anyway, what I mean is that I must have known what I was getting myself into and what the risks were and obviously, you meant more to me than that. Hell, I know I must have cared for you more than anyone because I haven't even known you for a full day yet and I already like you about as much as I like James! And I know I wouldn't want you to be sad about me, it's not like you'll never see me again right."

Harry smiled again, but this time it was a true smile. "Thanks Sirius. That helps a lot."

"No problem kid," I said standing up and helping Harry up as well, "now what do you say we head up to Gryffindor tower. They must be getting worried about us. But what do you say to a bit of a pit stop first?" I said with a big grin.

Harry's eyebrows rose a bit and asked, "Where did you want to stop?"

"Well I was thinking we should stop by the kitchens and get some food. All this sentimentalness has gotten me quite hungry." I said laughing loudly.

Harry chuckled, "Always thinking about your stomach, aren't you? You find out your supposed to die and the first thing you want to do is eat."

I laughed again, "Well what can I say, it's just the typical me."

Harry laughed again also and thought, _Yea it is the same old Sirius. Azkaban had changed him a bit but I can tell that they are the same person. But this Sirius isn't as mature and doesn't have then hollow look to his eyes. It's nice to get the chance to see Sirius carefree for once._

NO POV

They began to work their way back to the castle, Sirius's arm casually draped around Harry's shoulder. "Sirius, when you go to save me from the Department of Mysteries, stay away from the veil...ok."

Sirius looked at him surprised and upon seeing the slightly desperate look on his face, nodded and said, "Ok, I'll try." And the continued their way to the castle.

They arrived at the kitchens entrance shortly after and went in. Harry looked around and seeing some house elves coming up to them asked, "Is Dobby here?"

They all shook their heads and one said, "No sirs, he is cleaning the castle tonight sirs. Is there anything that we can help you with?"

Harry nodded and asked, "Could you give us some extra food?"

The house elves nodded and bowed as they retreated to gather the extra food.

"Who's Dobby?" Sirius asked scratching his head.

"Just a friend of mine, I was hoping you would get to meet him but I'm sure there will be another time." Harry answered casually.

Sirius nodded and the house elves came running up, their arms loaded with food.

When they finally returned to Gryffindor tower, they found everyone sitting in the common room. Remus was deep in conversation with Hermione about lessons and Lily was talking with Ginny, for some reason Harry couldn't help but smile. James was talking to Ron and Peter was just kind of tagging along in conversation.

"Anyone hungry?" Sirius asked crossing the common room to put down the food.

"Where have you guys been? Are you ok?" Remus asked.

"Never better. Just went for a bit of a walk." Sirius replied casually and plopped down next to James.

"Are you sure?" James pressed.

"Yea, I'm fine. We both are. Right Harry?" Sirius said as he began choosing his snacks.

"Yea, just like you said, never better." Harry agreed as he also began to rummage through the mountain of snacks. He grinned and so did Sirius.

"Ok, what's going on?" Ron asked irritatedly.

"Nothing, everything's fine." Harry replied a bit taken aback by his tone.

"Everything's fine? You both just got up and left." Peter said confused.

"I have no idea what you mean, Wormtail. Do you Harry?" Sirius asked as he bit into a chocolate éclair.

"None whatsoever." Harry replied flatly.

They all just looked at the two questioningly. Harry looked up and said, "We did bring this food up for all of us, so you know you guys can eat some too."

James was the first to answer, "You don't have to tell me twice!"

And with that he joined Sirius in digging into the pile of food, and slowly so did everyone else. They had no idea what was going on, but they knew they weren't going to get them to answer any more questions.

After they ate their way through all the snacks and talked awhile, everyone started moving off to bed in shifts, until finally only Lily and James were left in the common room. Lily stared into the fire, and when she noticed James watching her she asked,

"It's strange isn't it? To think that me and you get married and have that kid in there?" as she pointed to Harry's door.

"Yea, it is weird to think about." James answered simply.

"The weirdest part is, I'm already attached to him. And I've barely talked to him! I have no idea what it is but there is something about him and..." she hesitated, "I'm talking crazy. I don't even know what I'm trying to say."

James looked over at her again, "I know what you mean."

She looked at him bewildered, "You do?"

He nodded and said, "There is something about him that makes you happy and sad. Happy because he's there. Sad because when you look into his eyes, there is something there that shouldn't be. His eyes look as though they have seen too much. Too much pain and death. But it doesn't make sense, a boy that age couldn't have seen that much. His eyes are identical to yours, yet at the same time so different when you really look at them."

She was astounded, that was exactly how she felt. "How did you know that?"

He grinned at her and said, "I am a marauder. I'm very perceptive when I need to be. You just never took the time to notice."

She nodded a bit and said, "It is overshadowed by your ego."

He frowned and nodded, "Maybe it is, but at least I took the time to look past your image of know-it-all and got to know you. You've never even tried to get to know me, just labeled me as a jerk not worth your time." After a pause he said, "I think I'm going to go to bed, goodnight Lily."

He got off the couch and crossed the common room. After he climbed the stairs and put his hand on the doorknob to his room Lily spoke,

"It wouldn't matter how hard I looked James. Because deep down that's all you are, a jerk with an inflated ego. Nothing will change that."

As he started to turn the doorknob, he turned to look at her and said gently, "Maybe you're right. Or maybe your scared you judged me too quick. But either way, it still doesn't change the fact that you never did, and probably never will."

He opened the door and entered his room without even glancing back. Lily didn't even know what had just happened. Why was James Potter suddenly so...I don't even know.

IN HARRY'S ROOM

Long after the food had diminished and they had all talked a bit more, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in the boys' room.

"Harry, you really scared us tonight. You can't go around doing that all the time!" Hermione scolded him.

"I know Hermione, I'm sorry ok, I was fine." Harry repeated exhausted.

"Well how were we supposed to know that?" She snapped at him again.

"Yea, you tear outta here like you were on fire, and we are supposed to believe you're ok!" Ron asked.

"I am ok, and a lot better than I was before. I just had a talk with Sirius, alright." Harry said smiling slightly.

Ron scrunched his eyebrows together and shot Hermione a puzzled look and said, "Fine, we will believe that for now, but there is something we need to talk about. You CAN"T act that way around them. They'll get suspicious. We can't let that happen."

Harry narrowed his eyes and snapped, "I am well aware of what I must and must not do. But I thank you for the lesson Ron. I'll be sure to check with you before I say anything to them from now on."

Hermione frowned at the two boys and said, "Look Harry, we all know this is hard for you but you're going to have to try to act a little bit more normal around them."

Ron nodded and said, "Yea mate, we're just trying to look out for you."

Harry's face softened, "I know, it was just hard today, that's all. It won't happen again. I just didn't know how to handle it."

"Well Harry, that is understandable. I mean this stuff doesn't happen everyday. Even in your bizarre life." Hermione said lightly.

Harry chuckled and nodded. There was silence for a moment.

"Well I'm off to bed. Goodnight boys, don't stay up too late." Hermione said as she got up from the bed and moved towards the door.

"I think I'm gonna hit the hay too." Ron said tensely as he also got up and walked over to his bed.

"Ron? Sorry I snapped at you a minute ago." Harry apologized.

"Don't worry about it Harry, your under a lot of stress." Ron replied gently as he got into bed, "G'night Harry."

"Night Ron." Harry said as he too slid under the covers of his bed.

MARAUDER'S ROOM

James had just entered the room. He was greeted by Sirius saying,

"That's one hell of a son you got there, James. I am happy to be his godfather."

James looked up at him and said, "I know. And I'm happy that you seemed to help him earlier tonight. What happened with that anyway?"

"Nothing really, just had a bit of a talk with him." Sirius said shrugging.

James could sense there was more but apparently Sirius was going to keep it to himself.

"He does seem like a good kid." Remus said thoughtfully. James nodded agreeingly and Remus continued, "But we still don't know much about him do we?"

James opened his mouth to argue, and then closed it when he realized that this was true.

"He didn't seem keen on saying anything about his past." Remus said when he saw James wasn't going to say anything.

"Well, the kid has had some problems ok, he is dealing with a lot more then I would even want to think about." said Sirius as if it was nothing new.

He realized what he had said when he found them all staring at him.

"What is my son dealing with, Sirius?" James asked darkly.

"N..Nothing. Forget I said anything. Go back to talking amongst yourselves." Sirius said hurriedly.

"Sirius...did you just stutter? WHAT is going on? He is MY son, now tell me what is going on. I have a right to know." James growled.

"W..well, umm...he..no, they...hmm." Sirius stuttered.

"SPIT IT OUT SIRIUS!" James roared.

"Well he...someone wants to kill him." Sirius answered tentively.

James stared at him, mulling the words over in his head and was snapped back into reality when Remus asked, "What do you mean someone wants to kill him?"

Sirius shook his head and said, "I don't know all of it, he could only tell me parts. He said that for some reason Voldemort wants to kill him."

"Voldemort?" James asked, "Why would Voldemort want to kill my son?"

"That I have no idea about." Sirius said.

"Maybe he is trying to overthrow the Dark Lord." Peter squeaked nervously.

"Don't be a prat Peter." Sirius said obviously annoyed.

"Well maybe Harry wants his power! He probably wants to take over! Why else would the Dark Lord want to kill him? He doesn't want another one to compete with!" Peter finished wildly.

"MY SON IS NOT LIKE VOLDEMORT!" James yelled. "HE IS NOT A COWARD!"

"I was just saying maybe because it made sense. The Dark Lord is all powerful. Harry could see that and want power too I mean it's only n..." Peter was cut off when James slammed him into the wall and held him there by his throat.

"IF YOU SAY ONE MORE WORD ABOUT MY SON I SWEAR I WON'T HESITATE TO CURSE YOU INTO NEXT WEEK!" James roared and removed his hand that was pinning Peter to the wall so he fell and hit the ground.

"And you'll have me to deal with too!" added Sirius menacingly.

_Wow they sure are being protective of Harry. But I do agree with them. Why would Peter say such things? Harry is a good person, I sensed it from him the moment I met him. No, he's definently not on Voldemort's side. What would make Peter think that? _Remus mused as he watched the scene before him. _There is something going on. We just have to find out what. _

**A/N- OK! Lol, I wrote again and I actually sat down and planned out the story! I can't believe it, me trying to be organized! Anyway, I tried. I think I did better, but it doesn't matter what I think. Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

**Pandas rule the world- Ok, I will put it in. Thanks for the idea, and the review. If I follow my little outline plan then it should be in one of the next 3 chapters! I'm excited aren't you?**


	6. Mistaken

Disclaimer: I don't own it. That honor is J.K. Rowling's, not mine. Now I'm just depressed!

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all sitting in the common room talking in slightly hushed tones. Hermione clambered through the portrait hole, and upon spotting Harry and Ron in a corner, strode over to them,

"Harry, Dumbledore told me that we need take the Marauders and Lily to Hogsmeade to get clothes and other neccesities for them as they don't have anything with them."

Harry tore his attention from the fight that was occurring in the game of chess that he and Ron were playing and looked up at her frowning, "We need to take them to Hogsmeade? Why? They know how to get there."

"We are supposed to keep an eye on them. You know, make sure something doesn't happen to them." She said meaningfully.

"We don't need a baby sitter." Sirius said looking up from his conversation.

Hermione looked slightly flustered, "Of course not! I just thought...maybe you guys would want some company. Sort of...make a day out of it."

They looked at her suspiciously, "We wouldn't want to be a burden on you." Remus said.

"No, you're not a burden!" Hermione said quickly.

"Might as well go. I haven't finished my Christmas shopping yet anyway." Ron chimed in.

"Yea, same here." sighed Harry, "Do you guys want to go now?"

"Well, we aren't really doing anything else today." James said slowly, "Now is as good of time as any."

"Alright then, I'll just dash upstairs and get Ginny and Lily." Hermione said as she started climbing the stairs.

James tensed. _Oh no, I don't want to have to spend the day with her! Well...I do, but after last night...I don't think it'd be a good idea. That's all I need, to have another_ _row with her! Why is it that I can't control what I say around her, I've been trying but I don't see the point anymore!_

"James are you all right?" Remus asked, the worry apparent in his voice.

"Yea, I'm fine! What made you think otherwise?" James replied silkily.

Remus was about to answer when Hermione bounded down the stairs,

"They said that they will be down in a minute."

IN LILY AND GINNY'S ROOM

Lily was flushed. _I do NOT want to have to spend ALL DAY with that JERK! He always thinks he is right about everything! But...even I'm starting to wonder...is it true what he said about me last night? No..it can't be. But maybe he was right. No! He's not! He has always acted like a jerk around me! He never showed that there was anything more than that, so who could blame me. But...then again...didn't how he act last night show me there might be something there besides his ego?_

"Alright Lily, what's going on?" Ginny said waving her hand in front of Lily's face.

Lily jerked back slightly surprised to see Ginny standing directly in front of her, "What?"

Ginny laughed, "That's exactly it! You been zoned out for the past few minutes. You asked me to hand you the hair brush and then you sat there staring off when I was trying to hand it to you!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I...I was just thinking." Lily sighed.

"About James?" Ginny asked when she caught her tone.

"What! How did you...I mean, why would you think that?" She asked sharply as her head snapped up.

Ginny smiled slightly, "I saw how upset you were when you went to bed last night. And you muttered, 'egotistical jerk' after you turned the light off. Did you guys get into a fight?"

Lily shook in anger at the memory, "Yes and it was all his fault! He made some remark about me never trying to get to know him, and just labeling him as a jerk. I...well, I told him that it wouldn't have mattered if I did because that's all he is, there is nothing else for me to get to know!"

Ginny frowned, "Do you really believe that?"

Lily grabbed the brush and defiantly said, "Yes I do!" She brushed her hair a bit too roughly, and after a pause mumbled quietly, "and no."

Ginny continued calmly, "Why do you believe it is true?"

"Because, he has always been that way around me! He acts like he is the king of everything and people should bow down before him. He thinks he knows everything, or at least pretends to. I have never met anyone as conceited, self-absorbed, egotistical, and ignorant as him before!" Lily began hotly. Her face softened a bit and she said gently, "He had never given me a reason to believe that he wasn't how he seemed until last night."

Ginny nodded and said softly, "Like I said before, James Potter is not a bad guy. So what happened last night that helped you see that?"

"I don't know really. It...It was just, what he said to me...and how he said it. I felt like he generally cared. I mean, I always thought that him liking me was just some sort of game. Like he wanted me because he couldn't have me or something. But...last night...for once I thought that maybe he did care and it wasn't just a game to him. Do you know what I mean?" Lily asked uncertainly.

I nodded and sat down next to her, "He does care Lily. He...just isn't very good at showing it. His personality gets in the way I guess. From what you say it seems like he has people fawning over him all the time. He has to live up to his name. Harry is like that sometimes. People expect something from you and you don't want to let them down, even if it means you can't really be yourself. It's only normal."

Lily shook her head and sighed, "So then if your right, I guess the first time he finally tried to be himself in front of me, I threw it back in his face. Way to go Lily."

Ginny hugged her slightly, "Don't worry Lily. I'm sure he'll try again. I mean, after all...it is James Potter we are talking about here. Like he'd ever let you go!"

Lily laughed a little so Ginny continued, "Alright well we'd better hurry up and finish getting ready before we have Hermione up here dragging our butts down the stairs!"

They went downstairs to meet up with the others and headed to Hogsmeade.

"So where do you guys want to go first?" Ron asked glancing around at all of them.

Sirius was the first to answer, "Let's go to Zonko's, I want to see what kind of stuff they have now."

Lily frowned, "I wanted to go get some robes and stuff."

"I wanted to go get some Christmas shopping done." Ron chimed in.

Remus thought for a minute and said, "Why don't we all just split up and meet back in a few hours at the Three Broomsticks."

Harry nodded and said, "Yea, that sounds good to me."

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea." Hermione said pointedly.

"Like I said before, we don't need a baby sitter!" Sirius replied angrily.

"Don't worry Hermione, I'm sure it will be fine." Harry agreed. "So...we'll meet back at the Three Broomsticks in about...2 hours?"

"That will work." said James as him and the marauders headed off towards Zonko's.

"Yea, we'll see you in a couple hours." said Ginny as she grabbed Lily's and Hermione's hands and left in the opposite direction.

"So Harry, where should we head to first?" Ron asked watching the girls walking away.

Harry looked thoughtful, "I'm not sure...might as well walk around to see what catches our eyes. Who do you need to buy presents for anyway?"

"Well, I finished most of it, but I still need to buy a gift for Hermione and Ginny." Ron answered.

Harry smirked, "What, you haven't found the perfect gift for Hermione yet? You don't need help finding a gift that say 'I'm secretly in love with you' do you?"

"No I don't, and I'm NOT secretly in love with her!" retorted Ron hotly as the back of his neck flushed red.

"Oh, ok I'm sorry, your right," Harry said. Ron suddenly looked confused and Harry continued, "Because it's not a secret."

"Don't you have any shopping to do?" Ron asked irritably.

Harry froze, what he was about to say seemed strange to him, "Well...I guess...I dunno, but...I should probably get something for my parents."

Ron's face softened and he encouragingly said, "Yea mate, that sounds like a good idea. What are you thinking about getting them?"

"I have no idea, said Harry softly. "I've never really had to deal with this before. It's all kind of new."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll come across something." Ron replied as they started walking by the shops.

When they passed a quidditch shop Harry stopped him and peered in the window. After a moment he motioned for Ron to follow him inside.

THE MARAUDERS

"So what do you think that was about?" Remus asked as they were walking towards Zonko's.

"What Hermione said back in the common room was kind of dodgy." Sirius agreed thoughtfully, "Why was she so intent on us not being here by ourselves, I mean...we have been here before."

"I don't know. It's probably just because she thinks it has changed since our time." James said unsurely.

"Yea...maybe your right." Remus sighed.

"Anyway, enough of that, let's hurry up and get to Zonko's! I'm just itching to get a hold of the future pranking stuff!" Sirius said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Don't worry Sirius, if you can manage to restrain yourself, we'll be there in a few minutes. It's only a few stores down." Remus replied obviously amused.

Once they did arrive however, it was proven that restraint was not one of Sirius's strongpoints. While Sirius and James were both running throughout the store, each trying to hold as much as possible, Peter approached Remus and said in an undertone,

"So what do you think about this Harry character?"

"What do you mean?" Remus asked slowly.

"Well...I'm not sure. But I don't think he should be trusted." Peter said.

Remus frowned, "Why not? He's James's son. I don't think there is a person that we could trust more."

"There is something wrong with him. The way he acts around us isn't right. He tries to hide it, but the way he looks at me..." Peter said crossly.

"Peter, I think you should be more careful about the things you say. And it would do you good to remember who you are talking to when you say them." Remus said shortly and walked over to where James and Sirius stood practically quivering in excitement as they bought the numerous items in their arms.

"So do you guys have any other shopping to do?" Remus asked.

"Well, I was thinking since it is Christmas, I should probably get my future son a gift. Don't you think so?" James said.

"You know, I think I should get him something as well!" Sirius said thoughtfully.

"Yea, I think that would be nice. What are you thinking about getting him?" asked Remus.

James was about to answer when something on the wall caught his attention. He smirked and said, "Moony, I think I just got an idea. And it is something that could be from all of us!"

LILY, HERMIONE, AND GINNY

"Oh that robe looks fantastic on you!" Hermione squealed.

Lily smiled at her reflection. She was trying on a bottle green robe that really brought out her eyes. She sighed and said irritably, "Oh I wish that we were allowed to wear colored robes!"

"I know! But you could buy that one anyway. Just to wear on special occasions and stuff." Ginny said from the chair to the left of the mirror.

"No, I'd better not." Lily said sadly. She got changed and gathered her black robes and went to pay. Once they had left the store Hermione asked,

"Well where should we go now? We still have about an hour left and we've already gotten everything you need for school. Is there anything else you want to do?"

Lily frowned slightly and turned to face the two girls, "Do you guys think I should get a present for Harry?"

Ginny and Hermione shot each other a surprised look and Ginny said, "That's really up to you."

Lily nodded and said, "I'm going to."

"You don't have to, you know." Hermione said softly.

"I know I don't have to, I just...want to." Lily replied quietly. "But I don't know what to get him. What does he like? I want to get him the perfect gift."

Ginny thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't really matter what you get him, as long as it is something that's important to you he'll love it."

Lily stared at her in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I think Harry would like something more personal from you." Ginny said slowly.

Once again Lily just stared at her, "Something personal? Like what?"

Ginny chose her words carefully, "Something important to you, that shows what your really like and how you think about things. That would be the perfect gift for Harry."

"Why?" Lily asked.

Ginny looked her in the eye and said gently, "I just think that it would be something that would help him. You asked me to fix something for him. I think that a gift like that, one that truly came from your heart, would help him the most. Something he could look to for advice and such."

Lily continued to stare at her, still confused but determined also, "If it will help Harry, then ok.

They continued walking down the street, walking into some shops, while just peering into the windows at others. When Lily was distracted with color-changing ink Hermione pulled Ginny aside,

"I can't believe you did that." Hermione said shocked. Ginny was preparing herself to get told off when Hermione said gently, "I think that was the best thing that you could have told her to get him."

Ginny exhaled, "Your not mad?"

"Mad, why would I be mad? I admit that did seem like a strange request for a gift, but...it would be the perfect gift for Harry. And you were able to tell her without her being too suspicious of what will happen to her in the future." Hermione said sounding slightly impressed.

"You don't think she'll catch on do you?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"No, not from that anyway. It could always be pushed off onto another explanation. Like Harry's too proud to ask for help...which he is sometimes." Hermione replied thoughtfully.

"I hope your right." Ginny said tensely.

HARRY AND RON

"It's perfect! The best idea I think you have ever had!" Ron said excitedly as they left the store 15 minutes later with Harry's purchase.

"Well, it would help us out as well." Harry replied.

"That is true. We just have to hope the stories are true." Ron agreed.

They continued to walk in silence. Ron suddenly pulled Harry into a shop. There was an assortment of items, mostly for women.

"Hermione..." Ron mumbled when Harry gave him a questioning look.

Harry nodded and began to look around himself. Maybe there would be something in here his mother would like.

LATER ON IN THE COMMON ROOM

"I'm going to go get some food. Anyone want to come?" James asked stretching as he stood up.

"Yea I'll come." Ron answered also getting to his feet.

The pair left the common room as Sirius began making requests, "Get some more éclairs will you?"

They walked in silence. "So...your my son's best friend," James began hesitantly. "Maybe you can tell me then...what's he like?'

Ron paused, "Harry is...well, he's modest to start with, and of course he's a great quidditch player, and...well what do you want to know? Why don't you ask him?"

"Well, I just want to know if he is like me," James said shaking his head and frowning. "I've been trying to find out more about him, but he's so nervous around me. And come to think of it, he always disappears shortly after..."

"Don't pay too much attention to that," Ron began hurriedly. "Harry's always been---"

But what Harry always was James never found out, because Snape had just appeared in their corridor.

"Potter...Weasley," he sneered. "What are you doing in the corridor at this time?"

James looked as if his birthday had come early, "Snape? Is that you, you greasy haired git?"

"Why you little---" Snape snarled breathing heavily.

"Don't you recognize me Snivellus?" James pressed grinning slyly.

Snape stared and then realization dawned on his face, "YOU? But...it can't be...your de---"

Ron cut him off just in time by saying, "It's him." He leaned closer and said in an undertone, "And he doesn't know!"

Snape looked like he had just been forced to eat a dung beetle. He continued to look between the two of them and when he regained some of his composure, said, "I need to speak to Dumbledore." And brushed violently past them.

James had bewildered kind of look on his face, "What was that about."

"Come on...we'd better go get that food." Ron said hurriedly and began dragging James towards the kitchens.

The next morning, Harry found a note on his bedside table from Dumbledore asking him and the others to meet him before lunch. Harry woke Ron and showed him the note and they started getting everyone else up.

When they traipsed into Dumbledore's office shortly before noon, McGonagall and Snape were there to meet them.

"You wanted to see us Professor?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Yes...due to a certain incident that occurred yesterday, we've decided that it would be best if James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily all have their appearances altered." Dumbledore said calmly.

"But..why?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

"We wouldn't want to alert any teachers that you have had in the past." Dumbledore stated simply.

"But they know we are here." Peter said nodding at Snape and McGonagall.

"True they have found out," Dumbledore began unwavering. "But they have agreed to help conceal your identities."

Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter nodded slowly.

"So if you are ready please take a seat." Dumbledore said as him nodded pointedly to the chairs in front of him.

They all took their seats and Dumbledore looked to McGonagall, "Minerva, would you please begin on Ms. Evans while I work on Mr. Pettigrew?"

"Of course." McGonagall said as she strode over to Lily and faced her. She scrutinized her closely, and waved her wand. She smiled reassuringly and handed her a mirror.

"Oh my..." Lily breathed as she gazed upon herself in the mirror. She was completely unrecognizable to herself. She had long blonde hair and brown eyes. She looked over at James who was sitting next to her and saw that his hair was a light brown now. Sirius also had his hair brown, but it was darker color than James. She looked farther down the line to see Remus with black hair and Peter with dirty blonde hair.

"James, of course, should wear contacts." Dumbledore said as he passed James a box.

"Dumbledore, they will need to change their names as well." McGonagall said softly.

"Yes, well do you have any preference to your names?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling.

They all shook their heads no so he continued, "Then Ms. Evans will be Laura Edlyn, Mr. Potter will be Jay Parker, Mr. Black will be Sean Brinley, Mr. Lupin will be Randie Lennor, and Mr. Pettigrew will be Pierson Porter. It is important that you remember these names and try not to slip up."

They all nodded but Sirius looked uneasy.

Dumbledore smiled, "That is all, you may return to your common room or do how you please."

A/N- Is it just me or did that seem kind of rushed? O well, anyway...sorry for not updating sooner, I had to go out of town for a family reunion with my grandparents. I had no idea how much family my grandma had. (I guess that means they are my family too :( ,) I was being so good about updating too! I didn't intend to end it here, but it was getting SO long! Well anyway thanks to my reviewers:

maddie- grins I'm glad you like it! Sorry it took so long, it's good that I kept writing while I was away or it would have been longer! The next one shouldn't take this long. Thank you so much for the review!

madamwolf- Of course I want and care about your opinion! I absolutly LOVE the feedback and suggestions! Pandas rule the world told me to put him in there too. So don't worry, he'll be in there. Hopefully soon if I can stick to my outline! I need to make up for not updating for like 2 years so I'm trying to stick with it and write continuously so I don't forget! I'm soo happy that you reviewed and I hope to hear more from you! Thanks!

pandas rule the world- I was glad too when that happened. He did deserve it (and more)! I think I am going to name you my most faithful reviewer so far! Everytime I see that you reviewed, I just get a huge smile on my face! I'd hug you and give you a shiny medal if I could! Anyway thank you very, very much for reviewing! I hope you will always like this story and if there is something that you don't like or feel like I'm getting too off character let me know!

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! So if it's not too much trouble...review again! I hope to get some more new reviewers too!


	7. Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own it...kinda sad really.

A/N- Hello, I figured I'd put this at the beginning instead of the end. Got to mix things up a bit. Thanks Reviewers! You brighten my day!

Shalaren- I can't pass up that offer: ) This one's for you! I'm so excited to get another reviewer! Thanks!

pandas rule the world- You'll find out today. I'm sorry if your disappointed though, I just couldn't think of anything. Thanks for reviewing!

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"Harry...Harry, wake up."

Harry opened his eyes slightly as he was being gently shaken awake. "S' too early." He mumbled groggily.

"Harry Potter, you wake up right this minute!"

He opened his eyes the rest of the way and the blurry outline of his mother came slowly into view. He sat up quickly and grabbed his glasses off the night stand. "What's wrong, are you ok? What happened?

Lily was shocked at his sudden alertness, "Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to give you something."

"Oh," Harry said as his breathing returned to normal, "I thought everyone is exchanging gifts tomorrow morning in the common room."

"I know, I just wanted to give this to you in private so I didn't have to explain in front of everyone." Lily said shortly.

"Oh...ok then." He said as he moved over so she had enough room to sit down. She handed him a fairly thin package and sat so she was facing him. He looked at her questioningly and tore the paper to reveal a green book with a lily on the front.

"It's my diary." She began nervously, "I know it's not a usual gift to give someone, but I didn't really know what you liked and when I asked Ginny just told me to get you something that was important to me and well..." She trailed off staring at the sheets. "My diary is one of the most important things I have. My mom gave it to me when I was 8 and I have always carried it around with me to stop Petunia from trying to read it. Do you know about Petunia?"

Harry nodded, "Yea, I know her."

"Oh ok, I wasn't sure. She doesn't like me very much and I wasn't sure if we were in contact in the future. But since you know her, that must mean she's gotten over her grudge." Lily said smiling. "Anyway, I just got used to carrying it with me and I've written all of my feelings and every significant thing that's happened to me in there. Nobody has read it but me of course, but..." She faltered again and looked at him awkwardly.

Harry was speechless. He sat there gaping at her with his mouth slightly open.

"Of course I understand if you don't like it," She began quickly. "It is a strange gift and---"

"No," Harry said firmly, cutting her off. "It's great. No one has ever given me something like this before. It's perfect."

Lily smiled and stood up. "Ok, well...you'd better get back to bed."

She began walking towards to door but stopped as Harry said,

"Wait!" He got out of bed, walked over to her, and hugged her. "Thanks...mom."

Harry and Ron awoke on Christmas morning to find their usual piles of gifts at the foot of their beds. Ron started on his pile at once and had made quite a dent by the time Harry began to unwrap his own.

First he opened his gift from Hagrid, which was a rather large tin of his treacle fudge. Next he opened a big parcel which turned out to be from the Order members and contained another set of defense books, he assumed that Dumbledore was the one that told them to do that. Dumbledore was trying to prepare him as much as possible for his inevitable battle with Voldemort. He moved on to the gift from (future)Remus, which included a note telling him to be careful and a few dark detectors. He began feeling that this was not too bad of a Christmas when his eyes fell on Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's usual gift. He shifted uncomfortably.

MARAUDER'S ROOM

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Sirius yelled in James's ear.

James bolted up and cursed loudly.

"Language Prongs, language!" Remus said sleepily, but still grinning from his bed.

"I'd like to hear what you would have said if he yelled in your ear!" James huffed.

"Well, sorry! I thought that since Hermione wanted us all to exchange presents downstairs, you might want to wake up and shower or something." Sirius replied.

James grumbled but didn't say anything. He looked around and saw that Peter was still sleeping, "Padfoot you didn't do your job right. Wormtail is still asleep."

Sirius also looked over to where Peter was still sleeping soundly. "Well, we can't have that!"

He quickly walked over to Peter's bed and placed his hands under the mattress. He looked up at Remus and James, "Any objections?"

They both shook their heads and Sirius grinned. He flipped the mattress over and Peter fell off the bed with a loud thump.

The room burst out into laughter and Peter appeared from the floor.

"What was that for?" He yelled angrily.

"You wouldn't wake up." Said Remus shrugging.

"And we can't have you missing Christmas, can we?" Sirius said still grinning.

Peter glared at him and strode off toward the bathroom.

"Well that was rude," Sirius said when the door was slammed shut. "Not a 'thank you' or anything."

James laughed, "Well I wouldn't have expected a thank you, if I were you." He stared at the door for a minute and after he hear the water start running he said, "Have you guys noticed something strange about Peter lately?"

The others looked at him quickly and Sirius said, "Yea, I'm not sure what it is though."

"There has definently been something..off." Remus agreed.

"And the way he acts toward Harry.." James added thoughtfully. "He refused to even help with the gift for him."

"It's not just that though. He's been acting strange since the beginning of the year, before we even came here." Sirius said frowning.

"He said something to me that day we were in Hogsmeade. He thinks that Harry shouldn't be trusted, that there is something wrong with him." Remus said.

"Why would he think that?" James asked angrily.

"I don't know. But I'm sure it has to do with how he's been acting lately." Remus said slowly.

"I think I'm going to go downstairs now." James said shortly as he got dressed and left the room. He sunk into the armchair and rubbed his head._ Why would Peter think that there is something wrong with my son? What has Harry done to him? Why has he been acting so weird lately, I just don't get it!_

The sound of a door shutting made him look up and he saw Lily descending the staircase. _Oh man...should I run for it? Nothing has ever gone well when we are alone. I don't want to get in another argument with her. Has she even seen me yet? Could I leave without her noticing?_

"Hello James, Merry Christmas." Lily said brightly.

"Merry Christmas." He replied, slightly surprised.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked pointing at the armchair facing him.

"Not at all." He said honestly.

They sat there tensely for a minute before Lily asked, "So did you sleep well?"

James stared at her, "I guess so...did you?"

"Yes, quite well." Lily answered. They were silent once more and Lily began fidgeting with her hands.

"Ok, what's going on?" James asked, his confusion showing on his face.

"Well," Lily began hesitantly, "I've been wanting to say I'm sorry about the other night, but I've never really been that good at apologizing. It was my fault, and you were right. I have never tried to get to know you. But you never really gave me a reason to before the other night."

James tried to absorb what she was saying, but all it did was confuse him more. "So...what are you saying?"

"I guess I'm trying to say that I'll try to get to know you, and not just think of you as a jerk but...as a friend." Lily said sincerely.

James was shocked. She was admitting she was wrong (to an extent), and saying she would try to consider him a friend. He had no clue what to say to that! He stood up and walked over to the Christmas tree in the corner and picked up a small parcel. He handed it to her as he sat back down. Lily looked at him questioningly so he nodded at her and said,

"Go on, open it."

She removed the paper to reveal a box. She glanced up at James and her hands shook slightly as she lifted the lid. Inside was a silver necklace with a lily that was pink with white edges (a/n- i think they are called stargazing lilies). She looked up at James again as she removed it from the box. She opened her mouth to say something several times, but nothing ever came out. He stood up and took the necklace from her and fastened it around her neck. Once he sat down again, Lily came out of her daze,

"James...I---"

The door banged open and Sirius came bounding out.

"Merry Christmas Lily." Sirius said in a sing-song voice.

Lily tore her eyes away from James and replied slightly breathless, "Merry Christmas."

Soon everyone else had emerged from their rooms as well.

"Presents!" Sirius yelled as he headed for the pile under the tree. "Shall I hand them out then?"

He didn't wait for an answer as he began gathering up the gifts and distributing them.

"Lily, I was hoping you would sit over here with us." Hermione called from the couch that her and Ginny were seated on.

"Ok, I'll be right there." Lily yelled back. She looked at James again. "Thank you," she said softly, before standing and walking over to Hermione and Ginny.

Harry sat in the chair next to James and Sirius settled himself in Lily's vacated chair. They all began opening their gifts but Hermione stopped them.

"Your supposed to go all around, each person opening one at a time and then it's the next person's turn!" Hermione said indignantly.

"I'll go first!" Sirius volunteered, ripping the paper off his gift from Harry. His face spread into a huge grin as he looked at Harry. "These are AMAZING, where did you get them? We didn't see anything like this at Zonko's!"

"Ron's brothers own a joke shop and I mail ordered them from there." Harry said laughing as Sirius was looking over the Canary Creams, Skiving Snackbox, Ton-Tongue Toffees, and an assortment of other pranking items.

"I'll go next," Ron said hurriedly as he opened his gift from Hermione which was a set of Chudley Cannon tickets.

Ginny was the next in line to open a present. She picked up the parcel from Harry and tore off the paper, inside was a charm bracelet with her name on it.

Lily also opened her gift from Harry, which was also a bracelet, but not the same.

Hermione picked up her gift from Lily, and Lily stopped her,

"You and Ginny have to open yours at the same time."

They shrugged and both opened their gifts from Lily. She had gotten them 'best buds' necklaces and charmed them so that a picture that they took in Hogsmeade was on them.

"I've never had friends that I was really close to, but I already feel close to both of you." Lily said as she was hugged from both sides.

It was Remus's turn, he opened Harry's gift and discovered it was a potions book. He looked at Harry questioningly.

"I thought you might want to have Wolfsbane potion from this time." Harry said simply.

Remus went wide-eyed as did all of the other Marauders.

"You know?" Remus asked shakily.

Harry nodded.

"And...you don't care." Remus asked carefully.

"Of course not." Harry said honestly.

James looked up, "Of course he wouldn't care Remus. He's my son, he knows your not bad. He grew up with you."

Harry leaned over to Remus and said in an undertone, "The full moon is in a week, and in this time we have a potion called Wolfsbane, and it's makes you safe to be around people. So if you take this up until the full moon, you can just stay in here instead of the Shrieking Shack."

Remus stared at him numbly. _I don't believe it. He doesn't care that I am a werewolf. He's not scared like most people are. Well, he is James's son._

Peter was surprised when he saw that Harry got him something too. It was a large box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Of course, he didn't know that Harry really didn't want to get him anything besides a good kick. He had to under Hermione's nagging of, 'It will be suspicious if you don't!'

James opened Harry's gift also, it was a broomstick called the Firebolt. He had never seen a better looking broomstick in his life. "It's wonderful!" he breathed.

Harry grinned, "I thought you might like it. And there's another bit to it."

James looked up at Harry curiously.

"Well I'm the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, and we have an open spot for a chaser, I was kind of wondering if you would be interested..." Harry trailed off.

James face lit up with excitement, "That had better not be a joke!"

"It's not." Harry said grinning. "So, would you be interested?"

"YEA!" James yelled. They all laughed. James stood up and motioned to Sirius and Remus to stand as well. Harry looked curiously at them as they gathered around him.

"It is our honor to bequeath to you our greatest gift," James began in a loud voice as he handed Harry a book, "Our knowledge and sparkling personalities! In that you will find a record of every prank we have ever pulled and exactly how we did it! Written by yours truly." He finished gesturing to himself, Remus, and Sirius.

Harry smiled, "I will make good use of it."

They beamed at him and sat back down.

The rest of the presents were opened and the wrappings littered the floor.

"Lets go get some breakfast shall we?" Remus asked stretching as he stood. The others followed suit and were making their way to the portrait hole.

"Would you guys mind if we stopped by the Kitchens? I still have to give Dobby his present." Harry asked as he ran upstairs to get it. Once he had returned they made their way out into the corridor.

"Thanks for the broom servicing kit, Lily." James said in her ear.

"I guess you'll get to use it sooner than I thought." Lily said smiling.

"Yea, I'm really excited." James said smiling as well.

"Harry is Quidditch Captain...guess you rubbed off on him there." Lily said nicely.

"Is it that terrible?" James said grinning.

Lily turned her head to look at him and blushed as she said, "No...not terrible at all."

James's grin faltered a bit. _What does that mean?_

"James, will you get up here!" Sirius yelled irritatedly.

James glanced up to Sirius and then back at Lily, "Well I'd better go before Sirius wets himself."

Lily laughed and he walked up to see what Sirius wanted.

"Why do I get the feeling that something's going on with you two?" Ginny whispered in her ear.

"I don't know what you mean." Lily said.

"Uh-huh, sure." Ginny said rolling her eyes. Her attention was suddenly drawn to the necklace on Lily. "Oh, wow Lily! Where did you get that?"

Lily couldn't hold back her smile as she looked up at James's back. Ginny followed her gaze.

"Yea, sure, there is nothing going on, huh?" Ginny said grinning.

Lily flushed scarlet, "Nothing is going on...yet."

Ginny laughed, "Looks like it's well underway though!"

They entered the Kitchens and Dobby came over at once.

"Merry Christmas Harry Potter, sir." he squealed.

"Merry Christmas Dobby." Harry replied as he handed Dobby his gift.

"He's friends with the house-elfs?" Sirius asked uncertainly.

"Yea, since second year, when Harry helped set Dobby free." Hermione said simply.

Dobby's eyes swelled with tears as he clutched his new pair of socks, "You is too good to Dobby, sir."

"Nonsense Dobby! After how many times you have saved my life." Harry said as Dobby gave him his gift as well.

"Can I get anything for you, Sirs and Misses?" Dobby asked looking around at them all.

"No, we were just on our way up to breakfast." Hermione answered.

"You saved Harry's life?" Remus questioned interestedly.

"Dobby wouldn't say that, sir. Not after what Harry Potter has done for my kind sir. He has given hope to the lowly and enslaved. His greatness is known..."

"Dobby, that's a load of rubbish." Harry said quickly, "We should be going now."

"Harry Potter is modest, sir." Dobby continued to tell them before Harry could shut him up, "He speaks not of his triumphs over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"You've faced Voldemort?" James looked at Harry astonished.

Harry was opening and closing his mouth looking around rapidly as to find the quickest way out.

"Many times, sir." Dobby chimed in. "He---"

"Dobby that's enough!" Harry said sharply. The elf's ears drooped. "We must be going."

With that he ushered everyone out and walked quickly towards the Great Hall.

A/N- Ok I wasn't planning on writing at the end of this but...I dunno, this chapter didn't really turn out how I wanted it to. Let me know if you think it suxs and I'll rewrite it.


	8. pranks

Disclaimer: Do you really think I own it?

"You've faced Voldemort?" James asked immediately after they sat down.

Harry looked up at him, and then at the others. They all has the same curious expression on their face, except for Sirius of course. He knew he wasn't going to get out of this.

"Yes." He said shortly.

They gaped openly at him.

"Why?" Peter asked suspiciously.

"Does it really matter." Harry said harshly.

"Yes!" Peter began, "The Dark Lord is the most powerful wizard in the world. How did you escape? Why did you face him in the first place?"

"And WHY do you think I would answer your questions! What RIGHT do you have to ask me ANYTHING about my life!" Harry yelled angrily, glaring at Peter. "Why do you care what has happened to me!"

The head table was beginning to look worried.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were stunned into silence.

"Now wait just a minute here." James said shocked at Harry's behavior. "I am supposed to be your fath--"

"YOU ARE NOT MY PARENTS!" Harry yelled jumping to his feet, "MY PARENTS ARE...are...are at home."

"I AM going to be one of them though!" James protested. "So that DOES give me a right to ask something!"

Harry's temper flared back up again and before he could stop himself he yelled, "IT DOES NOT! YOU WEREN'T THERE!"

James looked confused, "What do you mean I wasn't there?"

"I..I mean, your not my father yet...so you haven't been there for me yet." Harry said quickly.

"But I will be in the future." James began arguing again. "Look, I just want to know why Voldemort would go after my son?"

"James, leave him alone." Sirius said harshly. "He obviously doesn't want to talk about it."

"But--" James said looking disbelievingly at Sirius.

"I said, leave it." Sirius said, his eyes flashing, "Why would he want to talk to us about why Voldemort is after him? It's not something he could find very pleasant. Now let's all get back to eating our dinner."

Surprisingly, they all did. Harry felt a rush of relief spread over him and he gave Sirius a small smile.

After dinner, Sirius, Remus, and James returned to their room, while Peter went for a walk around the lake.

"WHAT were you playing at, down there!" James bellowed at Sirius. "WHY did you tell me to leave him alone?"

"He didn't want to talk about it!" Sirius yelled back.

"I AM HIS FATHER, AND HE STILL BELIEVED I HAD NO RIGHT TO KNOW!" James yelled remembering what Harry had said.

"JAMES, YOU IDIOT!" Sirius yelled stepping directly in front of him. "DIDN'T YOU SEE HE WAS DIRECTING THAT TO PETER, NOT YOU OR ANYBODY ELSE!"

James thought for a moment and comprehension dawned on his face. _He had been glaring at Peter when he said that!_

James groaned and sat on the bed, "I never would have yelled at him if I had caught that then."

"I thought as much." Sirius said coldly.

"He did say I wasn't his father though--" James began, but was cut off.

"You know as well as I that he said that out of anger. And he is right. Your not his father yet!" Sirius said pointedly.

James looked at him, his regret showing plainly on his face, "But...it hurt, Sirius. Even if I'm not his father yet...it hurt."

Sirius looked at him with pity, "Go talk to him."

"I can't do that." James said shaking his head.

"That wasn't a request James. Go talk to him!" Sirius said forcefully and literally pushing him out of the door.

"Why did he direct that to Peter though?" Remus asked questioningly once the door was shut.

Sirius turned his gaze to him and said, "I don't know Remus. But we need to find out."

Harry sat on his bed._ How could I have said that to him? Why did I say that to him. True, he isn't my father yet, but he is my father._

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Harry said in a flat voice.

The door opened and James walked into the room. There was an awkward pause and then,

"I'm sorry." They both blurted out at the same time.

"What are you sorry for?" Harry asked.

"For trying to push you into answering a question you didn't want to. For yelling at you when you didn't deserve it. I didn't mean to, but...when you said that I wasn't you father and didn't have a right to ask about your life..it just--I don't know why but...it hurt. It just felt like you didn't want me to be your father." James said slightly embarrassed.

"No! That's not it at all!" Harry said quickly. "I do want you to be my dad! And I'm sorry about what I said, it's just...my temper got the better of me. I wasn't ready to explain and I just lost it. I shouldn't have said that to you, and I didn't mean any of it. I just...I can't explain it."

James nodded and said, "It seems we Potters have some bad tempers, huh?"

Harry laughed and nodded.

_The way he yelled at me, _Peter thought as he wandered the grounds. _The way he looked at me. 'What RIGHT do you have...' He knows! That's the only explanation! He knows I'm a Death Eater! How though? How? There isn't any way he could know that, is there? Not even the Death Eaters know who each other are. And I KNOW he hasn't see my mark. No...he couldn't possibly know. But what about what just happened? He looked at me with so much hate? Was it hate? Maybe it's suspicion. Yea...that's got to be it. He suspects me of something. I haven't been overly nice to him. Maybe that's why he said what he said. He couldn't know...he just couldn't. Maybe I should be a bit more careful around him though...and the others. He couldn't possibly know..._

Ginny hadn't gotten much sleep. She sat on her bed staring at the best friends necklace. _She thinks of me as a best friend. I can't let her die. I could tell her what will happen so she could stop it. But what would happen if she did? Would it all turn out the same way? Would she die anyway? What would happen to Harry? There has got to be another way. I can't let her down... _

"Hey Lily?" Ginny called slowly.

Lily looked up from her book, "Yea?"

"Can you tell me how you got here?" Ginny asked.

"Well...we were in the library and Sirius opened this book that I had been looking for. I told him not to because I wasn't sure if it was the right one. It was for one of Flitwick's assignments. Next thing I know, we end up here." Lily finished shrugging.

"Book? What book?" Ginny asked earnestly.

"No idea." Lily muttered vaguely. "It didn't have a title or anything on it."

"Where did you find it?" Ginny pressed.

"Well...I don't really remember what shelf it was on," Lily began thoughtfully, "it was in the restricted section though. And I know you usually need a note to be in there, but we had special permission to find the 'mystery charm' Flitwick assigned. "

Ginny shot her a confused look, "Mystery charm?"

"Yea. It was just an extra assignment. He gave us a list of clues to find the book it was in, and then a riddle to find out which charm it was." Lily said casually.

"Do you remember them?" Ginny asked slowly.

Lily frowned, "Actually...I don't. I remember part of the riddle though."

"What was it?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Something like...'What is right is done, while what...'," Lily's frown deepened, "I don't understand why I can't remember this! I had no problem when I was looking for this book! But another part was...something about knowing. I can't remember the exact wording of it, but it was something about knowing."

Ginny frowned as well. "Hmmm. Well do you know what the book looked like?"

"It was a kind of goldish bronze color." Lily said shaking her head, "Why can't I remember this stuff?"

"Don't worry about it Lily, it's not your fault. Must be some side effect or something." Ginny said gently.

Lily put her face in her hands and said angrily, "I don't get it though, I thought I had found the right book! I followed those clues with no problems! Not one!"

"Things happen, Lily. Don't worry. We'll find out what happened." Ginny said comfortingly.

The last few days of Christmas vacation passed and Hogwarts was suddenly full again. At breakfast on the first day of lessons Dumbledore stood,

"I am sure some of you have discovered that we have some new students in our midst. They transferred here over Christmas break and have been sorted into Gryffindor. I am sure you will all do your best to make them feel welcome." Dumbledore's eyes began to twinkle, "On another note, it is my regret to inform you that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Deritell, has decided to resign. However, it is my great pleasure to welcome back Professor Lupin, who has agreed to fill in for the remainder of the year."

Everyone, except the Slytherins, clapped wildly as Professor Lupin entered the Great Hall.

(a/n--Ok, future Remus is gonna be referred to as Professor Lupin and the past one will be Remus/Randie/Moony.)

"That's me!" Remus asked quietly.

"Yea, that's you!" Harry whispered back.

"Still devilishly handsome there, Moony!" Sirius said grinning broadly.

James laughed and winked, "Bet you drive the female students here wild."

"Yea there were quite a few girls in my year that had crushes on you." Ginny added smiling.

Remus blushed and said bitterly, "Bet they wouldn't if they knew the truth."

"But they did." Ginny said seriously.

"What? They knew?" Remus asked incredulously.

"Well, yea." Ginny shrugged.

Remus gaped open mouthed at Ginny. "There is no way..."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Believe what you want, but the facts remain the same. They knew you were a werewolf and liked you anyway!"

"So what class do we have first?" Ron cut in.

"Charms." Hermione said simply.

"Ohhhh, really?" Lily asked excitedly.

James consulted his schedule, "Yea, double Charms. Looks like we've got Transfiguration, History of Magic, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts as well.

"Doesn't sound like that bad of a day, really!" Sirius commented as he began on his eggs. "If you don't count History of Magic, of course."

"What are the teachers in this time like?" Peter asked, his mouth full of toast.

"Well...Flitwick, McGonagall, Sprout, and Binns are still teaching." Harry replied, staring at his breakfast instead of Peter. "And then there is Professor Trelawney, who teaches Divination, she is alright sometimes I guess, but a fraud...for the most part anyway. Snape teaches potions, you already know how he is. Then there is Hagrid who teaches Care of Magical Creatures, those lessons are always interesting. And then Remus, who is easily one of the most liked teachers in the school."

Hermione checked her watch, "Charms starts in 5 minutes, we'd better get going."

"Yea, I guess so...see you later Ginny." Harry said before they left from the table.

Lavender heard him as he left and turned to Ginny, "Since when does Harry Potter say bye to you when he leaves the table?"

"I guess since today," Ginny replied coolly as she continued to eat her cereal.

"It doesn't mean anything you know," Lavender said shrilly.

Ginny raised her eyebrows, "I never said it did. And since when do you care who says bye to me?"

"I don't," Lavender said coldly. "I just don't want you to run away with the false idea that Harry Potter might like you! After all, to him you will always be Ron's little sister and nothing more! Everyone knows you had a crush on him! You are crazy to think that The Harry Potter would even waste his time on a little girl like you."

"That is just it! I HAD a crush on him. I know you are to thick to realize that had is past tense which means I don't anymore! Now you might want to keep your nose out of my hair because my brothers have taught me a few good spells that would burn it off for you! Now if your done, I have a Herbology class to be in." Ginny said angrily and stalked off. Once she was on the grounds she thought to herself,

_No...you don't have a crush on him anymore..._

"Today we will be practicing the Paradoneia charm," Flitwick began, staring around the class. "Does anyone know what that charm does?"

Lily and Hermione's hands shot into the air.

"Yes, Ms. err..," He looked back down at his roll call sheet. "Ms. Edlyn."

"The Paradoneia charm is used to heal. It works on most fatal wounds, but not all." Lily said.

"Very good, Ms. Edlyn. Ten points to Gryffindor!" Flickwick said happily. "Now can anyone tell me how this charm is used?"

Lily's hand shot up again, and to everyone's surprise, Hermione's didn't.

Flitwick looked slightly surprised, "Yes, Ms. Edlyn."

"The true power of the Paradoneia charm can only be used if the one attempting the charm and the person they are healing have some sort of connection. And only by using it's true power can it heal fatal wounds. It is more often used to heal scrapes and such because a connection isn't needed." Lily reeled off.

"Well done, Ms. Edlyn! Twenty points to Gryffindor!" Filtwick said deeply impressed. "I wouldn't have expected anyone to have known that because it wasn't even in the book! How did you know that?"

Lily smiled, "There was a Charms club at my old school, and I learned it there."

Flitwick still looked awed. "We used to have a Charms club here many years ago, but too many people lost interest. Maybe it is time to start that up again. Would you be interested?"

Lily nodded her head vigorously, "Of course I would!"

Professor Flitwick laughed, "My, my, the only person I have seen with that much enthusiasm for charms was Lily Potter!" His eyes saddened and he looked over to Harry, "I'm sorry to have brought that up Mr. Potter, I didn't mean---"

"Don't mention it Professor," Harry said hurriedly. "It's quite alright."

Professor Flitwick nodded and cleared his throat, "Anyway, as none of us have any fatal wounds, you will pair up and simply heal any minor ones that you might have."

Near the end of the lesson, the door slammed shut. Everyone looked up to see Ginny Weasley standing there and slowly turning red.

"Ms. Weasley, what is the meaning of this? Why are you out of class?" Professor Flitwick frowned.

"I'm sorry professor, but we were let out of Herbology early, and I was hoping to have a word with you before your next class." Ginny said tentively.

Flitwick gave her a searching look and then nodded, "Very well, Ms. Weasley. Feel free to have a seat in the back and we can talk after the lesson."

Harry shot her a look that said plainly, 'What was that about?'

She just shook her head and mouthed, "Later."

The lesson ended about 5 minutes later, and after much shuffling, and a few questioning looks from the others, everyone left.

"What is it that you wanted to speak to me about, Ms. Weasley?" Flitwick asked her curiously.

"Well, professor...you see, I was just wondering...have you ever given any of your students in the past a 'mystery charm' that they had to find?" Ginny asked breathlessly.

"Well...," Flitwick began slowly, furrowing his eyebrows. "Yes, I believe I did. It was a great many years ago though. I think I did it quite often as a matter of fact. I just can't really remember when exactly."

"I see...well, do you by any chance still have the lists of riddles and clues you gave them?" Ginny asked.

Flitwick frowned again, "How did you know I gave lists of riddles and clues to find the charm? After all, it had been such a long time ago and even I had forgotten that I used to do that!"

"One of the suits of armors told me over holiday break, and I was just curious about them." Ginny lied quickly. She took a deep breath and said eagerly, "I would very much like to try out those old lists and see it I can figure them out. Do you think you might still have them?"

Flitwick smiled slightly, "Glad to see someone is becoming interested in Charms! Yes, I'm sure I still have them. They would be somewhere in the filing cabinet in my office. But I am sorry to say that I cannot look for them now, as my class will be starting in about 3 minutes."

Ginny's face fell, "I understand, sir, of course."

Flitwick saw the disappointment and asked, "Do you have a class next?"

Ginny nodded, "Divination."

"Oh I see," Flitwick said, some of the disappointment showing in his voice now. "I was going to suggest that if you didn't have a class, you may search through the file cabinets to find them yourself."

"I don't think Professor Trelawny would mind, sir." Ginny said hurriedly, "After all, this is one of my most important classes! I'd make up the class if she wanted me to though, of course."

"Well...this is rather important to you, isn't it?" He asked looking over at her. She nodded her head immediately so he continued, "Very well then, you have my permission to stay here for the hour, and I will let Professor Trelawney know you are here helping me."

"Oh, thank you professor!" Ginny said sincerely. "You have no idea what this means to me."

Professor Flitwick laughed and began walking toward his office, "I'm always here to help someone that has a love for charms. Now, those papers should be in one of these two cabinets. Happy Hunting!"

Ginny quickly walked over to the cabinets and began her search.

"Welcome back, class!" Professor McGonagall said as the lesson started. "Before break we were working on turning the table into a mammal of your choice. Let's see how far along you've come."

There were many groans as everyone began attempting to change the table.

"Don't know what everyone's complaining about...I mean it's not like we're taking notes or anything!" James said in an undertone to Harry.

Harry laughed a bit and Sirius said, "You know, there is really not that much different in the future than in the past. This is exactly what McGonagall would have been teaching us!"

"Just wait till potions." Ron said scowling.

"Is it really that bad?" Remus asked.

"That bad?" Sirius said disbelievingly. "Rem- I mean Randie are you NUTS! It's Snivellus for crying out loud! Of COURSE it's bad. Your stuck in a room for over an hour with the slimeball!"

Remus shuddered, "When you put it that way I see your point."

"Of course you do. I am always right!" Sirius said stiffly, sticking his nose in the air.

James snorted, "Sure, Sean...and what about a few weeks ago when you got us detention for that prank you were so sure would work?"

"That was..." Sirius started, "That didn't count!"

"May I ask why not?" Remus asked smiled and Peter was sniggering in the background.

"Because," he said indignantly, "that involved the mistakes you made as well!"

"Of course, the mistakes we made..." James said sarcastically as he easily transfigured his table into a horse and back again.

"Well done Mr. Parker! Take twenty points to Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall said as she walked among the desks.

"Speaking of that...it has already been half of our first day back, and we haven't even tried to prank anyone!" Sirius said in an undertone to the marauders.

"You know your right." James said slowly.

"What do you guys have in mind?" Remus added, even more quietly.

"As long as we're not caught again!" Peter squeaked.

"There is no way to guarantee that!" Sirius said dismissively. "Besides, the risk is half the fun! And like the teachers don't already expect this from us. We're the Marauders!"

A smile slowly spread across James's face as he shook his head, "They won't expect it!"

"Why wouldn't they?" Remus asked interestedly.

"Because," he breathed, "no one besides McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore know we are here."

Sirius grinned, "That's right! Most of them don't know! You know what this means? We have a whole new audience to impress!"

"That's not all!" James said, his smile never leaving his face. "Now we have a Marauder as a teacher."

They all looked at Remus.

"I don't know..." Remus started, transfiguring his table into a turtle.

"There is no way he'd punish us if we were caught!" Peter said catching on.

"So then we'll need to do it right before his class. But what are we going to do, and who is our target?"

"Well of course the Slytherins!" James said exasperatedly. "But we don't have that class with them, so how are we going to get at them?"

"Set a trap of course!" Sirius began. "At least one Slytherin will have to pass through that corridor to get to their class!"

"I don't want to prank just one! I want to prank them all!" James said.

"You misunderstood!" Sirius said impatiently. "All we need is one of them to activate the trap and then the prank will happen to all of them!"

James grinned, "Brilliant!"

"How are you going to do that?" Peter asked confused.

"We are going to have Moony do that useful little charm of his." Sirius said, very obviously annoyed.

"But what is the prank going to be?" Remus asked. "That charm won't work for everything."

"Don't worry Moony, we have all of History of Magic to come up with something that will work with it!" James said stretching out and transfiguring the table again.

"You wanted to see me, Professor Dumbledore?" Professor Lupin asked tentivly from the door.

"Yes I did, Remus. Please have a seat." Dumbledore said gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. Lupin crossed the room and seated himself in one of them. "I have something important to tell you, so I must ask that you remain calm."

"Does this have to do with why you insisted on me returning to teach for the rest of the year?" Remus asked.

"As a matter-of-fact, it does. You see...an interesting thing has happened." Dumbledore said slowly. Remus looked politely puzzled, so he continued. "Over Christmas break, a few...familiar faces turned up."

Professor Lupin frowned, "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean?"

"I know this is going to be difficult for you to hear, but..." Dumbledore attempted again.

"Professor, what is it?" Lupin asked urgently.

"Lily, James, Sirius, Peter, and yourself have traveled here from the past. They are currently posing as the transfer students." Dumbledore said finally. Lupin gaped openly at Dumbledore. He certainly wasn't expecting that. After a few minutes Dumbledore asked, "Do you remember anything like that happening before?"

"No," Lupin breathed. "Nothing like that has ever happened to us?"

"I see...well I'm sure it must be a memory charm or something. I probably cast one on you to stop you from remembering anything you discovered..." Dumbledore said frowning.

Thoughts suddenly flooded Lupin's mind, "How old are they? Does Harry know? How's he taking this?"

Dumbledore held up his hand to stop the questions, "They are in 7th year, Harry does know, and is taking it pretty well."

Lupin shook his head, "I don't believe this! Lily...James...and Sirius all here! There is something odd about all this! But...it would be nice to see them again..."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "Indeed...well I believe you have a class to attend. And unless I'm mistaken, I think you will have your hands quite full!"

"Padfoot would you shut up! Your going to give us away!" James whispered fiercely.

"I would if Wormtail would get off my foot!" Sirius whispered back.

"There isn't enough space in here, can't you move over Prongs?" Peter said slightly muffled from being squashed up against the wall.

"Will all of you just shut up!" Remus muttered irritably.

"Look! Here comes one of them now. Hurry Padfoot, put it up!" James said elbowing Sirius in the stomach. He pulled out his wand and drew a line from one wall to the other. James muttered something, and so did Remus when he was finished.

"Now be quiet!" Sirius instructed in an undertone once he was back in the cover of their hiding spot.

A Slytherin 5th year was walking briskly down the hall. When he paused to pick up the Herbology book he had dropped, the bell rang. He straightened back up and started to run down the hall. He ran straight through the invisible line that Sirius drew and continued on amid the gales of laughter that followed him. The second he ran through the trap, his robes turned pink and his face broke out into zits. Zits that spelled out 'Slytherins Stink!'.

"Wonder when he'll notice.." Sirius laughed.

BANG! Doors opened and groups of furious Slytherins spilled out, all sporting bright pink robes and zit patterned faces. The hall roared with laughter, as did the marauders.

"Well, well, well...I wonder who could have done something like this?" A voice questioned from behind the marauders. They all wheeled around and came face-to-face with a smiling Professor Lupin. "Now...do you have any idea who could have done this?"

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A/N- Hello Reviewers! I was so happy to see more! Ok, well this one did seem to take awhile didn't it? I started on part of another chapter when I was still writing this one. I had to make sure everything would tie in (not to mention I really wanted to write it!). So anyway, reviews rock, and so do the reviewers! I think you know what I'm asking you to do! ; )

emmamme: Sorry it took so long, but here it is! I'm really happy to have another reviewer! I hope to keep you as a frequent reviewer! Thanks for reviewing!

Shalaren: I wasn't intending on writing the badgering thing, but I put it in just for you! You have kept your word so far, I'm so excited! I'll try to be quicker about updating! Thanks for reviewing!

pr0lific: Another new reviewer! I love you guys so much. Anyway, thanks and well, here it is! I hope you liked it! Thanks again!

pandas rule the world: I can always count on you:) And you'll see... ;) You won't have to wait much longer! And aren't you excited, Future Remus is finally making an appearence! Thank you again for the review!

I so love you reviewers! And even if you don't like the story, I'd appreciate it if you'd review and tell me what I'm doing wrong! Even if all you wrote was like ewww or something. Well until I update again...


	9. Remus meets Remus

Disclaimer: I don't own it. That honor is J.K. Rowling's, not mine.

She had been looking through the cabinets for the past 2 hours and still found nothing.

"It has _got _to be in here somewhere!" Ginny muttered to herself. She was beginning to get impatient, "No...no...no...not this either...WHERE IS IT!"

As if answering her question, a black folder appeared where she was looking.

"An invisible folder...you've got to be kidding me! I spent all that time looking for nothing." She growled. She picked up the folder and began to flip through the papers inside. "This has got to be it! But...there is a lot of them. Better get to work then."

She got to her feet and left Flitwick's office quickly.

The four of them stood staring, wide-eyed at Professor Lupin.

"Looks like the Marauders strike again." Lupin said in an undertone. His smile grew wider but there was a note of sadness in his voice.

James grinned, "Well, well, well...looks like Moony is all grown up!"

A flicker of joy seemed to flash across his face, but it vanished almost instantly and was replaced again with sadness.

_Why am I so sad in the future._ Remus thought. _Why does he seem so regretful. And his eyes...they're sad, but also...worn. Something is bothering him..._

"Yes, I am." He paused, "Now what punishment do you think I should give you four?"

"P-punishment?" Peter said quivering.

"Yes, punishment. Maybe a week of detention with Filch?" Professor Lupin said casually.

"_A week of detention with Filch! _But professor! Remus, I can't believe you grow up to be a stuffy old professor!" Sirius said indignantly.

"However," Lupin continued as though he didn't hear him, a glint of amusement apparent in his eyes. "I don't _have_ any proof...so it would be unfair for me to punish you on my suspicion alone..."

"Moony, you sly old dog...you really had us going there!" James said grinning and winking at Professor Lupin.

"I try." Lupin said, grinning back. "Now hurry up and get into class!"

He chivvied them into the classroom and stifled a laugh as they passed the outraged and confused Slytherins in pink robes.

"Where were you?" Harry asked quietly as James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter took their seats.

"Just having a bit of fun...Slytherin pranking and all..." James said casually. Harry's face hardened.

"Why didn't you have us come along!" Ron said indignantly as he turned around and glared at them.

"Didn't think you'd be up for it...no offense, but you don't seem much like pranksters!" Sirius said calmly.

"I bet they've never even been in trouble before. Don't seem like the adventure types. Why I bet they have never even felt that thrill of danger from sneaking out late at night!" Peter said haughtily.

Ron opened his mouth, no doubt to reply scathingly, but Harry silenced him with a look. He was saved from response when Professor Lupin started class.

After dinner that night, as they all made their way out of the Great Hall, someone stopped them.

"Well...if it isn't Famous Harry Potter!" Malfoy sneered. "It's amazing that your still alive, Potter...Don't worry though, you won't be for long..."

"What is he talking about? Why is it amazing that Harry's alive?" Lily asked Ginny in an undertone.

"Get stuffed, Malfoy!" Ron said darkly, turning to walk away.

"Looks like Potter has made some new friends." Malfoy said, his eyes traveling over Sirius, James, Remus, Lily, and Peter.

"And what if he has?" James said, his eyes narrowing in dislike and reaching for his wand.

"Touchy...I'm just looking out for your well being." Malfoy said coldly. "Anyone associated with Potter will meet a sticky end..."

Harry's glare intensified. He was about to respond but was interrupted.

"What are you going on about?" Remus asked looking between them all.

Malfoy's eyes shined with malice as he stared at Harry, "What's wrong Potter? Still feeling guilty, are you? Don't blame you...they would never have died if it wasn't for you! I would have thought you would have the decency to warn them at least...stop another death from happening."

Harry launched himself at Malfoy. Hitting whatever his fist came into contact with. Before Crabbe and Goyle could enter the fray, Ron and Hermione had pulled Harry back, dragging him towards the staircase.

"The Dark Lord cannot be defeated, Potter! You don't stand a chance! He will get you in the end!" Malfoy yelled at him, watching him struggling against his friends.

Everyone went back to their rooms. The marauders had began to question Harry, however their questions went unanswered and instead of pressing the subject, they thought it better to merely return to their room and avoid the fight.

"What was all that about though?" Lily asked Hermione and Ginny about an hour later. "I don't understand it."

"It was nothing big...Malfoy is scum...that's all there is to it." Hermione said hurriedly.

They all looked up when Parvati and Lavender entered.

"I'd rather not have to see you." Lavender said glaring at Ginny.

Ginny ignored they questioning looks that Hermione and Lily were giving her and continued to read her book. "Looks like you're going to have to, as it is my room too..."

Lavender glowered. "He doesn't like you!"

"I NEVER SAID HE DID!" Ginny yelled throwing her book aside, glaring at Lavender. "It's obvious you do though, as you can't keep you nose out of his business!"

"_What _is the matter with you two?" Hermione asked looking between them.

"THAT...THAT _LITTLE GIRL _THINKS SHE IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR HARRY!" Lavender burst out angrily.

Ginny looked as if she was wanted to smack Lavender when Lily stood up defensively and said, "Who says she's not?"

Lavender's eyes narrowed, "HER? Good enough for Harry _Potter? _I don't think so!"

"Well I do." Lily said shortly. "As a matter-of-fact, I don't think there is a better match for him..."

Ginny stared at her, obviously lost for words. Her confusion grew when Lily turned to her and smiled.

"SHE DOESN"T HAVE A CHANCE WITH HIM AND SHE NEVER WILL! HE DIDN'T LIKE HER THEN AND HE DOESN'T LIKE HER NOW! HE ONLY PUTS UP WITH HER BECAUSE SHE IS RON'S SISTER! HE WOULDN'T LOOK AT HER TWICE IF--" Lavender yelled at the top of her lungs before she was cut off.

"SHE'S GOT A BETTER CHANCE THEN YOU! YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT!" Lily exploded.

"LOOK ALL OF YOU! I never said I had a chance with him! I know I don't! I'm not going to make a move on him, so you don't have to worry about that anymore, Lavender!" Ginny yelled angrily before gathering some papers of her nightstand and storming down to the common room.

Lily ran after Ginny, glaring at Lavender as she passed her. She spotted Ginny on the couch looking over the papers and walked over to her.

"I'm sorry..." She said tentatively.

Ginny looked up at her curiously, "_Why_?"

"I don't know...I guess I think I'm putting too much pressure on you to date my son...You never did say straight out that you liked him...It was just my suspicion." Lily said nervously.

"Well your suspicion wasn't wrong, or I would have told you that before." Ginny laughed. "I do like him, but I know he doesn't like me. What Lavender said was right...I don't have a chance with him. She just got all bent out of shape because he said 'bye' to me at breakfast. Apparently she's developed a crush on him lately. I didn't think you were putting pressure on me. I know it's impossible."

"Don't say that!" Lily said anxiously, "If I grow up to marry James Potter and have a son, then _nothing_ is impossible!"

Ginny laughed and shook her head. Her eyes returned to the papers. "Oh Lily! I almost forgot...I went to Flitwick today and talked to him about the mystery charms he used to assign. He gave me this list. I've been looking through all of them to find part of the riddle you gave me, but I can't find it. Does any of these look familiar to you?"

Lily looked at the list eagerly, but a moment later her face fell. "None of these are it...But it should be here..."

"Hey, what are you two up to?" Remus asked curiously walking over to them.

"Remus, look at this list and see if you can find the riddle for that mystery charm we were supposed to find back in our time!" Lily said, pulling Remus down next to her.

"Ok." Remus said slowly as he scanned the list. "Here it is...The fourth one down..."

Lily snatched the paper back and looked at it, "No it's not...it says nothing about 'what's right is done'."

"What's right is done?" Remus repeated frowning, "That wasn't part of the riddle..."

"Yes it was!" Lily said stubbornly.

"No it wasn't...here let me see the list of clues." Remus said picking up another piece of paper. "These are the right clues..."

Lily snatched that paper from him too. "This doesn't make sense..."

"What doesn't make sense?" Ginny asked.

"The first 3 clues are right...but the rest aren't..." Lily muttered distractedly, throwing the paper back at Remus and rifling through the rest of the pile.

Remus looked over the clues list again, "Lily I don't know what your on about, but these _are _the right clues! Are you feeling ok?"

"I'm feeling fine!" Lily said still searching through the other papers. "Look...here's another paper that has a few of the clues...These five, right here..."

"Are you sure that those are from the right one? Are you sure they weren't from some an older mystery charm assignment?"

"Yes," Lily breathed, grabbing a quill and beginning to mark on the papers that held some of the clues, "That was the first time he assigned us a mystery charm..."

"Lily, I'm _sure _that all of these were on my clues paper..."Remus said looking at her like she was crazy.

"Well I'm _sure_ that most of those clues were not on my clues list...these were..." Lily replied waspishly. She handed Ginny about 7 papers of clues. "Those 23 clues were on my paper."

"23? There was only 15 clues on mine..."Remus said frowning.

"Well we _obviously_ didn't have the same clues then did we!" Lily said impatiently. "But why? There was only _one_ mystery charm? Why weren't they the same..."

"Something dodgy is going on here..." Ginny said frowning as she looked over the papers. "Are these in the right order?"

"Yes..." Lily said. "I'm sure of it."

"Well then lets go." Ginny said as she stood up gathering up the other papers as well. She turned to Lily and asked, "Will you go get Hermione?"

Lily nodded and ran up the steps.

Ginny turned to Remus, "You coming?"

"I suppose so..." Remus sighed.

As soon as Hermione and Lily came back downstairs they left.

"Do you really think we'll be able to find it?" Hermione asked as they entered the library five minutes later.

"I sure hope so..." Ginny replied, gazing at the many shelves of dusty volumes. "Better get started."

"Ok so what are they clues?" Hermione asked, placing her stuff at the nearest table as the others followed suit.

Ginny looked back down at the list and said, "Ok the first clue is: '_Start in the 15th row, set apart is a book that glows_.' Well that is pretty straight forward."

They made their way over to the 15th row and began searching. Shortly after they heard Remus shout from the end,

"It's down here."

The girls hurried over to him and Ginny read, "The second clue says: _'Turn to page 739, look in the direction on the third line_.'"

Remus hastily turned the pages and read, "'_Although most creatures of these natures live in the south...' _That's all it says on the third line...So we are supposed to look south? What's the next clue say?"

"It says: '_Continue 13 steps and look to your left, find the book about particular pests_.'" Ginny said quietly.

Lily took the steps and found the book. "What's next?"

"The next one is: _'Go over 3 and up 2, find the book that's trimmed in blue_.'" Ginny said frowning, "Boy these clues are cheesy..."

Lily laughed as she looked for the book, "That's what I was thinking the entire time I was looking for it."

"Do you know where Remus has got to?" James asked looking around the room.

"Thought he was with you..." Sirius said frowning slightly.

"No, he wasn't with me...do you think we should look for him?" James asked.

I reckon so...It'd be a lot easier if we had that map we were planning..." Sirius said bitterly. He paused for a minute and said thoughtfully, "Well this is the future...do you think we've done it?"

James's face lit up, "I dunno, let's go find out."

They rushed over to Harry's room and without knocking burst through the door. Harry looked up at them in alarm.

"What's wrong?" He asked quickly.

"We were wondering...before we came here we had planned on making a map...do you know if we did?"

Harry grinned, "Yea you did...It's right here."

Harry walked over to his trunk and extracted the Marauder's Map. James and Sirius rushed over to him.

"All you do is tap the map and say, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'." Harry said tapping the map. "And when you want to wipe it clean you tap it again and say 'mischief managed'."

Sirius stared at the map in awe, "Prongs, if I do say so myself, we are bloody brilliant!"

Harry laughed, walking towards the door and said, "Well since you invented it feel free to use it. I've also got my-well _your_ invisibility cloak in my trunk. I've got to go some Occ...some lessons. See you guys later."

"Padfoot this is amazing! Can you believe that we did this!" James said excitedly.

"This combined with your old cloak would insure that we _never _got caught!" Sirius said, still staring avidly at the map.

"Oh--yea the cloak...He said it was in his trunk right?" James said bending down and looking through the trunk. He found it tucked away in a corner. Once he removed it he saw the two-way mirror. He pulled that out to and showed it to Sirius. "Hey look, he has that old mirror we used to use."

"Oh, yea looks like he does." Sirius said, looking over.

"James Potter." James said clearly to the mirror. It didn't work. He frowned, "Lily Potter." Still nothing happened. "That's odd--we must not have it on us...or maybe you have the other mirror."

"I don't think I--" Sirius began.

"Sirius Black." James said to the mirror. Once again nothing happened. "That's strange...maybe we gave him both and one of his friends have it..."

"Yea, that's probably it..." Sirius said.

"Well, let's see what other old-school stuff of mine that I gave him..." As he rummaged through the trunk his eyes fell on the leather-bound picture book. He picked it up and said, "I'm curious to see what we look like in the future...Aren't you Padfoot?"

James opened the book and sat down as he and Sirius began to look through the pictures. "Look there I am...Best man I see...Well like you could hardly deny it." Sirius said grinning.

"Looks like there is the proof that I'm really married to Lily..." James said quietly. "...she's beautiful..."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Don't get sentimental with me now Prongs!"

"I wasn't!" James said hastily, and turned the page. Once there were finished Sirius frowned.

"How come Harry wasn't in any of those pictures?" Sirius asked.

"What...I dunno. I guess he wasn't in any of them was he..." James said also frowning.

"And come to that...what 17 year old boy brings a book of pictures of his parents with him to school?" Sirius asked thoughtfully.

"What's that supposed to mean?" James asked angrily.

"Well...think about it mate. Did _you_ bring pictures of you parents to school?" Sirius asked slowly.

"Well...No..." James said furrowing his brow in concentration.

"So...why does he?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Maybe because he misses us. We must be really good parents!" James said defensively.

"Yea...your probably right." Sirius said slowly. "You gave your son all your pranking stuff, so we know your a good dad!"

James looked back at the map, "Hey...there's Remus. He's in the library...with Lily, Ginny, and Hermione."

"Sounds like Moony is having some fun..." Sirius said grinning slyly.

"Well come on, let's go see what they're up to." James said, standing up with the invisibility cloak and the map in hand.

Lily, Remus, Hermione, and Ginny were all standing in front of a shelf filled with all dark colored books.

"Ok the last clue is: '_Turn to the page 929, it shall tell you the needed rhyme.'_ And then it says,'_Follow it to find the charm.'"_

Lily turned to the designated page and squealed, "This is it, this is it! This is the riddle that we need to work out!"

Remus took the book from her and read, "_Times passed and times to come, what's wrong is fixed and what's right is done. It alone decides what to do, and it decides when it's used. Showing itself rarely occurs, if your fixed on knowing do not deter. The theory is found in most modern charm books, tap one and say 'fate' to take a look. To test your chances and find the book, it's located 17 to the left of this one. It appears red and brown in color, if it is missing don't even bother."_

"I went straight for the book." Lily muttered quietly.

"Well then that's what we will do..." Ginny said vaguely as she counted off the number of books to the left. She came to an empty space where the 17th book should be.

"Well that's it then...it said don't even bother if the books not there!" Hermione said sadly, "It must have been missing since they took it here..."

"We are going to have to find some other way back then..." Remus said as he retreated back to the table.

"But--what if that was our only shot?" She whispered worriedly to Ginny as they followed Remus.

"Hey...What are you all doing in here?" Sirius called jovially as he entered the library.

"Trying to find a way home..." Lily muttered sadly.

"Any luck?" James asked.

"None." Remus replied shortly. "Well are you guy ready to head back...it's almost curfew..."

They all nodded and started gathering their things, but Lily sat down at the table and said, "I think I'll stay here a bit longer...I'll catch up with you later..."

Ginny turned to look at her, "Do you want me to stay?"

"No I'll be fine." Lily said quietly. "You have to finish that Transfiguration homework you got..."

"Transfiguration homework or not, I don't want to leave you here by yourself." Ginny said softly.

"Don't worry Ginny," James said taking a seat. "I'll stay with her...and don't worry about us getting back, I have the invisibility cloak."

Ginny's eyes twinkled, "Oh...alright then...we will see you later...have fun!"

After they had left James asked, "What's wrong?"

"We were looking for that book that sent us here, but we couldn't find it." Lily sighed. "It was probably the last chance we had to get home."

"It's not that terrible here...I'm sure Dumbledore will find a way to get us home.." James said gently.

"No...it's not terrible here...Not terrible at all in fact, and that's the problem." Lily said sadly.

"What do you mean?" James asked curiously.

"I like it here." Lily said shortly, "I'm growing attached to Ginny and Hermione...and Harry too. I'm afraid that if I stay here much longer, it will hurt too much when I go back..."

"Don't worry Lily," James said kindly. "It's not like you'll _never _see them again after we go back..."

Lily smiled. "You know your right James...I guess we should get headed back to the common room..."

James grinned slyly, "Actually...I was thinking we could have a bit of a nighttime stroll...Head over to the kitchen...Show you a few of the secret passage ways...You know the usual...to cheer you up a bit."

Lily looked at him suspiciously for a moment and said, "Alright then...as long as we're not _too_ late..."

James grinned again, "Wouldn't dream of it..."

It was near midnight when Lily and James returned, still covered by the invisibility cloak. They spotted Harry sitting in his favorite armchair by the fire, staring at the crumbling logs and were about to take it off when they heard a voice.

"Harry?" said a voice uncertainly from the girls staircase.

Harry quickly looked up to see a familiar red-headed girl walking toward him, "Oh Ginny, it's you. Why aren't you asleep."

"Oh, I left your mother at the library with your father over 3 hours ago and she still hasn't turned up. I would be worried, but I know James wouldn't let anyone hurt her. He'd curse someone into oblivion if the so much as looked at her the wrong way." Ginny said laughing.

Lily looked at James under the cloak and he shifted guiltily avoiding her gaze.

Harry smiled sadly, "Yea, I don't doubt that. It's funny that before this the only things I saw of them were those pictures and a memory in a pensive...they were fighting in that. I hated seeing them fighting when they first came here. My parents were supposed to be in love...but they have stopped fighting lately. I must admit, I do like seeing them get along, much more than the fighting.

"What's going on?" She asked softly, sitting in the armchair facing him.

"Nothing." Harry said looking back at the fire.

"Harry, what's wrong? You can talk to me, can't you?" Ginny asked concerned.

"I said nothing's wrong!" he snapped.

"You can pretend all you want, but I know something's bothering you! Why can't you just tell me what it is? Why do you always try to distance yourself from people, Harry? You don't let anyone near you anymore! You don't even let Ron or Hermione in anymore, and I am sick of acting like I don't notice it! Why are you being that way? What are you scared of?" Ginny said angrily.

"Why am I being this way! What am I scared of! Do you really want to know, Ginny!" Harry said savagely. "Anyone close to me DIES Ginny! THEY DIE! And here you are asking me what I'm scared of? Why I distance myself? Well, THAT is why! Too many people have died BECAUSE of me! Why would I want to add to that! Has anyone you've really cared about _died_ Ginny? Do you _know_ what that feels like? And then to _know_ it was your fault! I distance myself to save people! I DON"T have a choice!"

"Yes you do have a choice, Harry!" Ginny began. "You don't have to--"

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING GINNY!" Harry yelled furiously, leaping out of his chair. "YOU HAVE ALWAYS HAD AN EASY LIFE! YOU HAVE ALWAYS HAD PEOPLE THAT CARED ABOUT YOU! I DIDN'T! THEY ALL DIED! FIRST MY PARENTS! THEN SIRIUS! THEY DIED BECAUSE OF ME! NOTHING WILL CHANGE THAT! ANYONE CLOSE TO ME SUFFERS! THE SECOND I CARE ABOUT SOMEONE, THEY DIE! SO DON'T YOU TELL ME THAT I HAVE A CHOICE! IF I DID, THEY WOULD STILL BE ALIVE!"

Ginny's voice shook as she spoke, "Don't you dare think that just because you have had a hard life, that no one else did! Yes, any pain I have experienced hasn't come close to yours Harry, and I have always had people that cared about me, but so do you! Your parents died FOR you, not because of you! They loved you enough to die for you, Harry! And so did Sirius! Not everyone has that! Doesn't that mean anything to you! They would rather die than see you get hurt!"

"BUT THAT DID HURT! THEY LEFT ME! THEY LEFT ME HERE ALONE TO DEAL WITH THIS!" Harry bellowed.

"THEY LEFT YOU HERE WITH US, NOT ALONE! YOU JUST WON'T LET ANYONE IN! YOU WON'T LET ANYONE HELP YOU! BUT NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE, YOU ARE NOT ALONE, HARRY!" Ginny shouted.

"You don't know what your talking about!" Harry snarled turning his back to her.

"Only because you won't tell me anything!" Ginny replied coldly.

"You would never understand!" Harry said loudly.

"Is that what you say to protect yourself Harry?" Ginny snarled, "Nobody will understand, because nobody has dealt with what I have. Nobody has ever felt pain. Ginny can't understand because she's not afraid to let people in!"

Harry wheeled around and placed his hands on either armrest and leaned forward so their faces were about an inch apart. "You really want to know that bad Ginny? Fine! There was a prophecy made about me and Voldemort, do you want to know what it said? It said that I'm the only one with the power to defeat him. I'm the only chance we've got! That's the only reason people are so willing to die for me! So when it comes down to it, my life is going to be filled with death! I have to become a killer, or I will be killed."

Ginny gaped at him and her eyes softened, "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I've never told anyone," Harry snarled straightening back up.

"Not even Ron or Hermione?" Ginny asked softly.

Harry looked at her, "Not even them."

"That's why you think it's you fault?" Ginny asked breathlessly. Harry looked away quickly. "Harry...you didn't choose your destiny, it choose you! It wasn't your fault!"

"How can it not be? They died because I'm the only one that can beat Voldemort..." Harry said desperately.

"Harry," Ginny said gently, standing up and putting her hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault! You never asked for any of this! I know you would rather have your parents and Sirius than being Famous Harry Potter. You should never have had to deal with any of that pain and stuff you went through! You don't deserve it! But there are still people here...people that care about you! And fear of death isn't going to get in the way of that."

Harry slumped into the chair and put his face in his hands, "I don't think I can do it Ginny...I'm 17 years old...how can it be that I am meant to defeat him...I can't see it...it must be some sort of mistake...there is no way I could beat him."

"I can see it." Ginny said softly, also sitting back down.

Harry looked up at her incredulously, "How?"

"I've known you for a long time, Harry. If anyone can beat him, it's you. I don't know why I believe it so strongly, but I do. Look at what you've done over the years. Not many could've lived through all that...but you did." Ginny said quietly.

"I wish I could see it the way you do." Harry said dejectedly. "And then...having them here. It's kind of...strange. I mean I never knew my parents, and I've always wanted to. But now...I know I'm going to lose them, so why should I get attached?"

"It must be really hard for you. But this must have happened for a reason. Maybe you're supposed to get to know them. Kind of like a second chance." Ginny said sadly.

"I know...I do really want to. But when I see them with that traitor, I just want to...how could they trust him? Why did they have to trust him?" Harry asked shaking his head.

"Harry, I'm sorry." Ginny said tearfully. Harry looked at her confused. "I'm sorry for thinking I knew what was bothering you. I only knew part of it. But I wish you would have told me sooner...you can't keep all that bottled up inside."

"No Ginny, I'm sorry...you were right. I lock everyone out. I snapped. I just...I don't want anyone else to be hurt." Harry said seriously.

They sat quietly for a minute, staring into the fire.

"I think I'm going to head up to bed." Harry said, standing up.

"Yea I think I will too..."Ginny muttered, also standing. There was an awkward paused where they both muttered 'goodnight' and hurried up the separate staircases leading to their dormitories. As soon as they heard the doors slam shut, James ripped off the cloak.

"James..." Lily said breathlessly. "We're dead?"

James sank onto a couch and put his face in his hands, a moment later his slightly muffled voice said, "It all makes sense...earlier me and Sirius were in his room and we found this picture book...it was filled with pictures of us...pictures from our wedding and such...and he wasn't anywhere in any of them. Not one picture was he in..."

"James...we have to find out more about this...I want to know _why_ we died!" Lily said softly sitting down next to him.

"I do too Lily...But for now we should get some rest...We're going to find out more about this tomorrow..." James muttered as he stood up.

Lily grabbed his hand to hold him back and said, "Wait! I...Don't go!"

James shot her a questioning look but nodded all the same, "Ok, I won't."

He sat down next to her again, and after awhile they both fell asleep, never realizing that they were still holding hands.

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A/N- I have the strange urge to go AWWWW. Lol. I know, it was kinda cheesy. I'm so not good at this. Anyway review and tell me what you think...And I know everyone must be real excited for HPBP to go out...I know I am. I am curious to know how many of you are going to get it at midnight? Leave a review to let met know...Think of it as a bit of a poll, lol. All you have to do is write I AM, or I"M NOT, or if you're reading this after it came out then I DID, and so on. I just want to know...and if you really love feel free to leave some encouraging words. Sadly I think I did pretty good with this chapter. I'm Happier with this one than any of the others. Anyway thanks for reading!

NikkyB- I am so happy to have another new reviewer! grins I tried really hard on this chapter and to hurry up at the same time. I hoped you liked it and I hope I keep you as a frequent reviewer! Thanks for reviewing!

Mellem- Thanks! And I'm starting to feel really special! I hope you liked the chapter and I hope you'll keep reading and reviewing! Thanks again!

pr0lific- You guys are starting to make my head big with all the compliments! grins But I'm not complaining...keep them coming, I have no objections! How did you like the chapter? I'm so happy that you're still reading! Can't wait till I read your next review. Be honest in what you think about it. Thanks for reviewing!

HP super freak- I am starting to look like I slept with a hanger in my mouth because I can't stop smiling from all these new reviewers! And I swear I will beg on my hands and knees to keep you all reading and reviewing! Thanks, I'm glad that you liked it. I hope I kept up to your expectations. I'll keep trying to update sooner! Reviews motivate me big time...can you tell? Anyways, thanks again and I hope to hear from you again.

pandas rule the world- Yea...He is sad too though. Knowing what he's going to feel like in the future and how happy he used to be with his friends. Must be depressing...Well on a lighter note...what did you think of that chapter? looks around nervously Be honest now. I want to know if it sucks or if I need to keep this type of writing up. I have no clue why, but I think that I did better on this chapter than most of the others...what is your favorite chapter? Well thanks for the review, looking forward to reading another. Oh and by the way, your story rocks! Both of them do actually. I advise anyone reading this to go read your stories! Thanks again!


	10. Truth

Disclaimer: True...I love it...but sadly I don't own it...my good mood is so shot now...

A/N- Lol, I finally previewed one of my chapters and I noticed that although I put 3 blank lines between the different scenes, it still only showed one...Needless to say I was pissed! Here I am thinking I was doing so well, and I probably was confusing all the people reading the story...To me it seemed like an abrupt change, which was the whole reason I put the 3 blank lines in there. So to divide the scenes, I've decided to do this:

-

-

-

And then continue with the next scene...Well that's it...Just wanted to give everyone a head's up! Anyway, I hope that will help w/ confusion...sorry I didn't catch it sooner. On with the story then...

THIS CHAPTER DEDICATED TO: NikkyB

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"Shut up Padfoot you'll wake them up!" Remus whispered fiercely.

Remus, Sirius, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were hovering around the sleeping forms of Lily and James.

"Peter wouldn't want to miss this...He'd probably have wet himself..." Sirius whispered laughing.

"Well then it's a shame he's still taking a shower...he'll need another if he comes down here soon..." Remus said grinning.

"They look so cute together..." Hermione sighed softly.

"Adorable..." Sirius said pretending to wipe tears from his eyes. Ginny elbowed him sharply in the stomach. He scowled and said loudly, "Well they are, aren't they! They're just laying there, asleep, and holding hands. I never thought I'd live to see the day when Lily Evans would finally fall for James Potter's charm!"

"Sirius shut up!" Hermione whispered.

James groaned groggily and shook his head slightly, "S'wrong?"

"Glad to see you're finally awake Prongsie boy! Now will you be so kind as to explain what _exactly _happened last night." Sirius said grinning slyly.

"What are you going on about?" James asked rubbing his eyes with his free hand. Sirius didn't answer and when all their smiling faces came slowly into view, he scowled and asked, "What are you all grinning about?"

"Well James," Remus said laughing slightly at the look on his friends face, "I suggest you look down..."

James looked down and didn't see anything.

"What are you--" His eyes fell upon the hand that was clutching Lily's. He stared at it in silence.

"So are you going to tell us what happened last night?" Sirius asked, his grin growing wider.

James screwed up his face trying to remember. Everything hit him at once and he looked up at Harry, his eyes wide.

"What?" Harry asked frowning.

"Nothing." James said quickly. "I-Nothing happened last night."

"JAMES!" Sirius yelled looking shocked. "I'm supposed to be your best friend! You can't lie to me! I come down here and find you and Lily asleep and hanging on to each others' hand for dear life! You can't tell me nothing happened, now explain!"

"Nothing happened!" James insisted.

"What's going on?" Lily said frowning and yawning.

"That's exactly what I want to know!" Sirius shouted staring at James. "As I was telling James, I walk down here and find you two clinging to each others' hand, and then when James wakes up I asked him what happened and he said that NOTHING happened, which of course is INSANE as before you could barely stand to be in the same room as him! So what happened?"

Lily stood up quickly and poked Sirius in the chest, "You leave James alone and listen here! _NOTHING_ happened! He was telling you the truth! I was simply upset last night and _he_ helped cheer me up. He is my friend! And he's _your_ best friend! How _dare_ you think he would lie to you!"

Sirius opened and closed his mouth several times, but he didn't looked as shocked as James. Suddenly he smirked and said, "I'm sorry for doubting you, James. I'm happy to hear that you two are friends...And I see you are still holding his hand..."

Lily looked back to her hand, that was indeed still intertwined with James's. She looked at it questioningly, and then looked up at James who was smiling in a bemused sort of way. "I-I didn't realize..." She stuttered slowly as she pulled her hand from his and frowned.

"Anyway...we'd better head down to breakfast...Peter said he'd meet us down there..." Remus said finally breaking the awkward silence.

"Yea," James said slowly, "Let's go.

They all began to head towards the portrait hole. Lily hung back and waited for James. When she was sure no one was listening, she said in an undertone to James, "We're not going to tell them what we heard are we?"

James glanced around quickly and said just as quietly, "No. At least not until we've found out more...I don't know how everyone would react...Not to mention I don't want to be the one to tell Sirius that he's going to die." His face fell even at the thought.

Lily noticed how upset he looked and said, "Don't worry...it will be ok."

"Yea." James said distractedly.

-

-

-

"So what class do we have first?" Peter asked after he had joined them in the Great Hall.

"Potions." Ron said shortly with distaste.

"We'd better get going, or we'll be late..." Lily said grabbing her bag and standing up.

The Slytherins were huddled outside the potions classroom when they arrived.

"Well, well, well...Potter..." Malfoy spat.

"Malfoy..." Harry muttered, his eyes narrowing.

"Weasley...How is your porky mother doing...I haven't seen an article about the shame of your family in a long time..." Malfoy sneered.

Harry and Hermione grabbed hold of Ron just as he was about to launch himself at Malfoy. Harry glared at him, "Well you'd know all about it as the Prophet is so busy writing stories about your father...How did Azkaban agree with him? It's a shame that everyone knows what scum he is now and he's forced to flee."

Malfoy's eyes narrowed, "You'll pay for that."

"Oh really? I'd love to see that..." Harry snorted.

Malfoy smirked, "Your mudblood mother woul--"

"TAKE THAT BACK!" James roared, his wand pointing at Malfoy.

Malfoy looked slightly surprised at James's actions and continued to stare at him questioningly. Lily was also looking at him strangely, _I thought he only defended me from Snape as an excuse to pick on him._

"Take it back." James repeated venomously, his wand still pointing at Malfoy.

"Jam--Jay..." Lily said softly, resting her hand on his arm. "This scum isn't worth it."

James looked at her and slowly lowered his wand. Malfoy was looking between the two bewildered. Then her words hit him.

"Scum am I, _Scum_!" Malfoy said, drawing his wand and pointing it at her. "_Sectumsempra._" (A/N-ring a bell? couldn't resist putting it in...)

"_Protego!"_ James yelled, stopping the spell from hitting Lily. He pointed his wand at back at Malfoy and roared, "_Stupefy_"

Malfoy roared, "_Furnunculus!_"

Both spells hit in mid-air and flew off in different directions. James's hit the wall and rocketed off in the same direction as Malfoy's. Both spells flew towards Sirius, but at the last minute he stepped out of the way and they hit Peter full on in the face.

"_Petrificus Totalus!" _James yelled.

Malfoy fell forward just as Snape rounded the corner.

"MR. PARKER! 100 points from Gryffindor!"

"It was worth it!" James snapped glaring at Snape with the utmost loathing on his face.

"Well then let's add detention." Snape said nastily.

"Still worth it." James said ferociously.

"Then let's make it a week!" Snape sneered.

"Do you think I care?" James yelled in Snape's face. "It doesn't matter how much punishment you give me! It was worth it! It's worth the risk!"

"Get inside." Snape growled. He smirked and turned his eyes to Harry, "Oh and Potter, take Mr. Porter to the hospital wing please..."

Harry's eyes flashed, "Excuse me, _sir_, but I don't think that is a good idea..."

Snape's lip curled and he said coldly, "I on the other hand _do_. And it is my opinion that matters Potter, not yours..."

"Like hell his doesn't. I'd say his matters more to me than _yours_ ever will." James said scowling.

"Mr. Parker, you are in enough trouble as it is don't make it worse." Snape snapped, his eyes glinted with malice. "Take him to the hospital wing, Potter."

"_Mobilicorpus_." Harry muttered, flicking his wand in Peter's direction and stormed off to the hospital wing.

"Inside!" Snape said harshly.

Everyone filed inside and took their seats. Ron and Hermione sat at one table, while James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily sat at another.

"Why didn't Harry want to take Peter up to the hospital wing?" Remus asked quietly.

"Dunno." James said slowly. "Doesn't really seem like that big of a deal, though."

-

-

-

"Stinking...scum...greasy git...slimeball..." Harry muttered. "Only one more corridor and I get _this rat _off of my hands."

Harry looked back as he turned the corner and say Peter being held onto by a suit of armor. He walked back and grabbed ahold of Peter's arm.

"Let go you!" He yelled at the suit of armor as he tugged fruitlessly on Peter's sleeve. "Your making me touch this filth, now let go!"

He gave the sleeve an almighty tug and it ripped off. He stumbled back growling. He was about to repair the sleeve when something caught his eye and his breath caught in his chest.

"_The Dark Mark!_" Harry said, his eyes narrowed. He began shaking with anger, "You're already working for Voldemort!"

He couldn't hold it in anymore. He had no control over what he did and punched Peter in the face.

"You're the reason!" He screamed at Peter and hit him again. "There is no _way_ I'm going to spend anymore time around you! Not now that I know you're no different then when you sold my parents to Voldemort!"

"_Reducto_!" He yelled, pointing his wand at the armor which was reduced to dust. He in turn flicked his wand at the hovering Peter and stormed off towards Dumbledore's office.

-

-

-

"So how are we going to find out...you know...what we heard about last night." Lily asked in an undertone as soon as the others were busy with their potion ingredients.

"I thought we'd ask around a bit." James said thoughtfully, "You know...Some of the Gryffindors or something...Someone is bound to know something...After all, he _is _referred to as 'famous'."

"Do you really think we should be doing this?" Lily asked nervously.

James frowned, "Yea...I think we should...I mean, we are the ones that die..."

"Yea...I guess your right..." Lily said softly.

-

-

-

"I WILL NOT BE AROUND HIM ANY LONGER!" Harry yelled throwing the door of Dumbledore's office open.

"Harry? Why are you escorting a rather ragged Mr. Pettigrew to my office?" Dumbledore asked politely, his eyes twinkling.

"I was taking him to the hospital wing, under Snape's request--"

"Professor Snape, Harry." Dumbledore interrupted.

"Yea, yea, yea, whatever." Harry said irritably. "Anyway, I noticed this!"

Harry pointed at the Dark Mark on Peter's left forearm. Comprehension dawned on Dumbledore's face.

"I see..." Dumbledore said shortly.

"I'm not going to stand him anymore!" Harry said venomously.

"I understand...Well, the only thing I can offer is to put him in an enchanted sleep or something...perhaps The Draught of the Living Death..." Dumbledore said thoughtfully.

"You mean it Professor? You're really going to do it?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I don't have any other choice...I cannot let him gather anymore information from the future, if he is indeed working for Voldemort..." Dumbledore sighed pacing his office.

"What should I tell the others..." Harry asked slowly.

Dumbledore looked up and said seriously, "Tell them he will be in the hospital until Madame Pomfrey can revive him...I'll let her know of the situation...He shall be moved there as soon as possible, but he shall not have _any_ visitors..."

-

-

-

"Seeing as Potter decided to skip the rest of class...that will be a further 50 points from Gryffindor." Snape sneered at the end of class.

"Actually, sir, I was detained...Here is the pass." Harry said as he strode up to Snape's desk, dropped the note on his desk, and retreated to his usual table.

"Now that Potter has joined us..." Snape said his eyes lingering on Harry, "I want a 3 foot essay about Veritaserum due the beginning of class on Friday."

"Evil git he is.." Ron muttered as they ambled out of the door.

"It's not like there is anything that can be done to stop him..." Hermione said absently, tucking her book back into her bag.

"There is always revenge..." Sirius said slyly.

"Don't even think about it Sirius!" Hermione said hotly.

Lily grabbed James's arm and stopped him. "D'you think that we should start asking around now?"

"With who?" James asked raising his eyebrows at her. She pointed over to the Creevey brothers who were heading their way. "Brilliant!"

Lily flushed but pretended to have not heard it and instead turned to the Creevey brothers. "Hey, Colin...Dennis...can we ask you something?"

"Sure." Colin said happily.

"We were wondering if you could tell us some stuff about Harry..."

"You're Muggle-born aren't you?" Colin asked smiling.

"Uhh...yea..." James said slowly.

"Don't worry about it...I'm a Muggle-born too. I didn't know anything about him either until I came here. So what do you know so far?" Colin said sincerely, and patted him awkwardly on the back.

"Umm...nothing...we need you to start at the beginning..." James said.

"Wow, you guys are more behind then I thought. Well let's see...There was this really dark wizard who we call you-know-who and for some reason he was after the Potters'. No one knows why. Well they went into hiding and a friend of theirs was secret keeper, but he sold them to You-Know-Who. So You-Know-Who went to where they were hiding and killed them. According to Harry, his dad took You-Know-Who on first to give his mum and Harry the chance to run for it. Then after You-Know-Who killed him he went after them, and his mum died to save him. You-Know-Who was telling her to move out of the way, but she wouldn't so he killed her. That's what Harry says he hears when the dementors get too close. I overheard him telling Ron and Hermione in 3rd year. Anyway, then he tried to kill Harry and for some reason...it didn't work! It rebounded upon You-Know-Who and reduced him to something barely alive. No one knows why Harry survived, I mean he was only one year old at the time. That's where he got that scar on his head from." Colin reeled off.

"Oh my gosh..." Lily whispered, her eyes wide and her nails digging into James's arm.

"Yea, but that's not all..." Colin said nodding impressively. "He faced You-Know-Who _again _at the end of his first year and stopped him from getting the Sorcerer's Stone. Then he faced him at the end of 2nd year and saved Ginny Weasley from the Chamber of Secrets. And then at the end of his 4th year, You-Know-Who came _back_! Nobody could believe that he got away again...And 5th year something strange happened. I have no idea what it was...no one does! He went to the Ministry of Magic and faced him again, but I don't know anything else..."

Lily and James had their mouths hanging open and a look of unmistakable shock upon their faces.

"And then he's in half of all the books that You-Know-Who is in..." Dennis piped up, looking at his brother. "Wasn't he, Colin! He was in _Modern Magical History_, _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_, and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_."

James came to his senses, grabbed Lily's arm, and tore off towards the library shouting over his shoulder, "Thanks Colin...Dennis!"

-

-

-

"Look here it is...'_You-Know-Who met his downfall when he tried to kill one year old Harry Potter, son of James and Lily Potter. James and Lily Potter were killed that night, October 31st, trying to protect their only son. The Potters' had performed the Fidelius Charm in an attempt to hide for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, however their secret-keeper, Sirius Black, tur--" _Lily faltered, her eyes growing wider with every word she read.

James looked up at her, "And? Go on!"

"I dunno if I should..." Lily said softly.

"Lily!" James said seriously, "_Tell me!"_

Lily whimpered but looked back at the book and finished "'_turned out to be He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's right hand man and divulged their hiding place to the Dark Lord.'"_

James froze. He looked back up at Lily. "Sirius...Sirius sold us to Voldemort?"

"James? Are you ok?" Lily asked softly.

"How would you feel if you found that your friend betrayed your family, Lily?" James said harshly.

Lily grabbed ahold of him and said, "I know James...It'll be ok..."

"No it won't Lily!" James yelled ferociously. "We are going to _DIE_! I can't believe this is going to be our future! I wish we never came here! I want to go back! I don't want to know this anymore!"

There was a loud crash and James wheeled around to see a bookshelf had fallen over.

"James, it will be ok..." Lily said gently, "We can still do something about it!"

"Maybe your right..." James said distractedly.

-

-

-

_Father, _

_I have some interesting news that you may like to hear. There had been some new students to come to our school recently. Five, actually. At first I thought they were just part of the Potter Fan Club, always hanging around him as if hoping they could lick his shoes or something. Nevertheless they had been acting most strangely from the moment I met them. I had an especially strange encounter with them today. I was insulting Potter, as usual, I believe I said something about his mudblood mother and one of them started yelling at me to take it back, and tried to hex me. One of the others, a girl, started to tell him it wasn't worth it. You would have thought I was talking about them! After class I heard them talking to another one of Potter's admirers. They were discussing the Potter's parents' deaths. Odd, isn't it? I certainly thought so. They rushed off, and I followed them. You'll never believe what I heard, father. I was so surprised, I knocked a bookshelf over. Nobody discovered it was me though. The students that are supposedly Jay Parker and Laura Edlyn are actually James and Lily Potter. I heard them reading aloud about their deaths and calling each other by their real names. They must have come from the past by the way they were talking. I didn't know that we could travel to the future. There has never been a record of it before, has there? And also, by the looks of it, the other three students most likely are from the past too. I would assume Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. The initials of their fake names remain the same. They are posing under Sean Brinley, Randie Lennor, and Pierson Porter. I hope this information is of use to you. Maybe if we are lucky, we could get rid of Potter before he ever lives._

_Your son,_

_Draco_

_-_

_-_

_-_

"James, it hasn't happened yet, so maybe we could change it!" Lily repeated irritably, 20 minutes later as they entered the Gryffindor common room.

"Your right, Lily, and I know exactly how I'm going to do it." James said resolutely looking around.

"Really?" Lily said obviously impressed. "That was quick...so what is your plan?"

"Kill Sirius Black." James said simply, narrowing his eyes at where Sirius sat across from Remus.

"James--that's not wh--" Lily stuttered.

James wasn't even listening and stormed over to Sirius. It was a really good thing the common room was empty, save for Sirius and Remus.

Sirius looked up as he approached, "Hey Prongs! We've been wondering where you've been. What's wrong with you? Bad day? Want to help me with the Transfiguration homew--"

James lunged at Sirius punching him in the face. The armchair they were on fell backwards with a loud thump.

"James! What's the matter with you!" Sirius yelled rolling James off of him.

James pinned him back to the ground and began punching any part he could reach of him. "YOUR A MURDERER! YOU KILLED ME! YOU KILLED MY LILY! YOU TRIED TO KILL MY SON!"

Sirius's eyes widened, he threw James off of him again, and stood up bellowing, "ARE YOU MAD! WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU! WHY WOULD I DO ANY OF THAT! YOUR MY BEST FRIEND! WHY WOULD I WANT YOU DEAD?"

James also rose to he feet. "I TRUSTED YOU! I TRUSTED YOU WITH MY LIFE! I TRUSTED YOU WITH MY _FAMILYS' _LIVES. AND YOU BETRAYED ME...YOU BETRAYED THEM!"

James once again knocked Sirius off his feet, starting a sort of wrestling match on the floor.

"HAVE YOU GONE _COMPLETELY_ OUT OF YOUR MIND!" Sirius roared, finally hitting James back.

"I WAS OUT OF MY MIND TO THINK I COULD TRUST YOU!" James screamed, hitting him in the gut.

"What the bloody hell do you think your doing!" Harry said, rushing over and pulling James off Sirius. James kept trying to throw him off, so he stepped around him and put himself in between the two, facing James.

"How could you defend him?" James snarled. "He's the reason we die!"

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"DON"T TRY TO HIDE IT ANYMORE HARRY! WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO US IN THE FUTURE!" James yelled, spit hitting Harry full on in the face.

"How d'you know?" Harry asked slowly.

"WE HEARD YOU AND GINNY TALKING ABOUT IT LAST NIGHT!" James yelled, hotly. Ginny and Harry gave each other horrified looks. "THAT'S RIGHT, WE HEARD YOU! WE KNOW WE DIE! THEN WE DID A BIT OF READING OURSELVES TO FIND OUT MORE! HOW COULD YOU...HOW COULD YOU BE UPSET ABOUT SIRIUS DYING? After...after he betrayed us like that. Don't we matter to you at all? Don't you miss us?"

Harry looked crushed. "Of course I miss you, and I miss mum. But, up until now, I never knew either of you. I always missed you guys. And I'm sure I was happy with you and loved you and everything. But I loved and miss Sirius too. He was the closest thing to a parent after you died...how could you blame him for that? He didn't know..."

"Like hell he didn't. He was Voldemort's right-hand man!" James snarled.

"What?" Sirius breathed. He was looking between them, utterly confused about this entire conversation, but he just had to say something at this...this...this lunacy!

"That's right," James spat, coldly. "Voldemort was after us and we made you our secret keeper! You told him where we were! You betrayed us! You killed us!"

"No..." Sirius said desperately, shaking slightly. "I could never...James your my best friend...your practically my brother...I wouldn't...I'd rather _die_ than betray you, or Lily for that matter. I would never sell you to Voldemort...I couldn't."

"You didn't..." Harry said sadly.

"Yes he did!" James began hotly. "It said so in the book, he sold us to Voldemo--"

"YOU GOT IT WRONG!" Harry roared, effectively cutting James off. "SIRIUS DIDN'T BETRAY YOU! PETER DID!"

-

-

-

"Are you sure? Let me remind you I do not tolerate falsehoods..." Said a cruel, high-pitched voice.

"Yes, My Lord. My son would not lie about this. I checked into his assumptions and it seems to be right. The new students indeed seem to be from the past..." Lucius Malfoy said swiftly from under his mask.

Voldemort's lip curled slowly into a smirk, "I shall be looking forward to hearing your plan, Lucius..."

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A/N- So...what do you think? Not too bad, huh? I don't think this chapter is too horrible. But it's not my opinion that matters...it's YOURS, so review and let me know:)

Oh and congratulate me, I got a job! And it's at a shoe store! Ok, ok, ok, so you caught me...I'm not the biggest fan of shoes! I'm a sucker for strappy shoes though, even if it is difficult to walk. I'm not all that good with balance. But in wrestling shoes, my balance is by far the best...Although I _DO_ admit to falling flat of my face at least once every year while we are doing the warm-up run. Lol, the last time was definently the funniest. Sadly I'm not even joking...face first...like I was diving into the mat!

P.S.- I hope everyone got their books! They ROCK don't they!

purrbaby101- Well thank you! I'm glad your hooked! I never thought I'd be able to do that! Your review did help me speed up to finish this chapter and get it out today. Did you like it? And, lol, I stood in line for about 1 and a half hours. And I read for a little over 7 or 8 hours, slept for about 5, and went back to reading for the rest of the day. Well I finished the book that day! That is definently my record. It was awesome wasn't it...sad of course, I cried like I did at the end of book 5...but it was still amazing! I don't want it to end at book 7. Too soon...I want to know what happens...but not to end. Lol. It's torture! I was so mad though when that happened! I wanted to smack him!

Lol, anyway, Thank you so much for the review. I loved it!

Unicorn'sWhisper- I want him out of the way too! How did you like the way I did it? I did it for you! I have to make my new reviewers happy! I want to keep all of you! You guys just have a way of making me feel so special! I only wish I could type faster and give you all chapters as soon as you want them! I'll do my best at that though! I'm happy you thought it was sweet! I thought that everyone would be like 'ok, moving along'! Lol. So what do you think of this chapter? Up to your expectation's? I hope so! Well let me know! Thank you very much for the review!

madamwolf- I did! I was wondering where you went! I got all depressed for awhile. I thought I lost you! Oh I see...you think the compliments are going to get you out of hot water huh, missy...well you were right! lol! Glad your back though! And that your computer is fixed! Not too much Remus in here this time, but don't worry! He'll be back...and soon. Lol, it's strange isn't it? That you can't wait for my update and I can't wait for you review! Lol, it's PERFECT, isn't it? Well thanks for the review, and I hope your computer doesn't give you anymore trouble. Whenever mine acts up I threaten it with a wrench instead of a screw driver and it starts to be good...

OperaGustus- I know it...they shouldn't! Nosy aren't they! But I bet James feels like a horse's back end now, doesn't he? Hope you liked the chapter! Let me know if you didn't like something, so I can remember for future writing excursions. Lol, I swear that word (excursions) just popped into my head. Well it fit nicely didn't it! All these new reviewers are starting to make my head big! Oh well...it's not so big that it is stopping me from being able to lift it, so we are still ok. I was so happy when I read you review! I thought, 'Another person likes it!'. I must be doing something right...have no idea what though. Thank you for taking time to review! I hope I keep you too. Let me know what you think! I love to read the comments and theories on where this is going!

NikkyB- Awww. That touched my heart...I feel loved now. :) I feel like I should get you some sort of gift now...I'm dedicating this chapter to you, I just went back up to the top and wrote it! Let me know if there is anything else I can do. I feel like I'm about to cry...I'm getting all emotional and sentimental right now. When I first read your review, I had thought I had gone momentarily mental and had read it wrong. I swore I read it about 5 more times before I was sure that it actually said that. I'll probably need a minute to recover from writing this! I just...I don't even know what to do with myself. I feel very special. I couldn't help but smile. Thank you very much for the review and the lovely compliments. You don't know how much that means to me. I don't think there is anything I could do to thank you enough. :)

HP super freak- I got you winks loud and clear! I've been caught onto haven't I? Well thanks! I think your the first person to ever tell me I am a good thinker! Yea, it will be interesting how they will react to finding out the rest of it. The best part is that for once, I know! But you will too...very, very soon. I'll make sure of that. I'll start writing the next chapter as soon as I post this one! I hope you liked this chapter, and I hope you let me know what you think about it! Thanks for the review!

pandas rule the world- You guys sure have a way with the compliments! Sorry there wasn't too much Remus in this chapter...I just couldn't find a way to put him in effectively. He'll be in the next one, I promise. And I try to put him in there a lot! And for a long time. I have an idea of how, and I hope it turns out as good as I think it will! Thanks for the review! I can always count on you, and that is a relief, believe me! Even though there was a lack of Remus, I hope you liked this chapter anyway.


	11. Explain

Disclaimer: Do I have to say it:( Fine I Don't own it! Certainly puts a damper on your day doesn't it? At least...It puts one on mine!

DEDICATED TO MISCHIEVOUS CRYSTAL, MY 50TH REVIEWER!

"Harry!" Hermione scolded, "They aren't supposed to know!"

"They know they die! Besides, I won't have my dad and my godfather hate each other because of that _rat_!" Harry said hotly. "I'm telling them the truth! It won't matter anyway...Dumbledore with just '_Obliviate_' them or something."

"That's true..." Hermione muttered distractedly.

"Are you sure about this mate?" Ron asked tentively.

James was staring between between all of them. "Is SOMEONE going to tell me what's going on?"

"I did tell you!" Harry said coldly, turning his back on James and walking over to Sirius. "Sirius _didn't _betray you..._Peter _did!"

"But..but the book...it said Siri--" James stuttered.

"I told you! The book got it _wrong_!" Harry snapped, cutting James off. "Peter framed Sirius for your murders!"

"Framed _me_? _Peter framed me_!" Sirius asked disbelievingly.

"I guess I had better start at the beginning..." Harry muttered, running his hand through his hair. "I suppose you heard me mention something about a prophecy?"

"Yes..." Lily answered slowly.

"Well then we will start there...18 years ago, a prophecy was made about the one that was meant to defeat Voldemort. It said that he would be born at the end of July. There was more to it than that but it all adds up to me being the one the prophecy was talking about. Therefore, we were targeted as Voldemort's next victims since I was born. When I was one, you needed to go into hiding. Dumbledore said the Fidelius Charm would be your best bet. Dumbledore offered to be your secret keeper, but you wanted Sirius to be it instead." Harry reeled off monotonously.

"So he was our secret keeper!" James burst out angrily.

"Sit down and let me finish," Harry said irritably. "As I said, you _wanted _Sirius to be your secret keeper, but at the last minute you changed to Peter. You thought it would be the perfect bluff, because no one would go after Peter. Sirius was the obvious choice, being your best friend and all. Anyway, as it turned out Peter worked for Voldemort. He told him where we were. Voldemort showed up and killed you first. Then he went to kill me...but mum stood in his way. She told him to take her instead of me. Finally he killed her and moved onto me. When he tried to kill me, mum's sacrifice saved me, and instead the curse rebounded upon Voldemort. He was reduced to something barely alive and went into hiding. Dumbledore sent me to live with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon--"

"Petunia?" Lily gasped, looking horrified. "But...Petunia hates me...why would she take my son? She hates magic! Do they treat you alright?"

"That's not the point." Harry said quickly, shifting his gaze to the floor.

"But...I'm your godfather...why didn't I get you?" Sirius asked from the armchair he just sank into.

"You couldn't...everyone--including Dumbledore--thought you were my parents secret keeper. Which is why you were blamed for their deaths. But that's not the only death you were framed for...When you discovered that Peter wasn't at his hiding spot, you went to my parents house. You found them dead. You went after Peter, and managed to cornor him...but before you could curse him, Peter yelled out to the street how you betrayed my parents and blew it up with his wand behind his back. He cut off his finger and transformed into a rat, to fake his own death...You were sent to Azkaban..."

"_Azkaban?" _James croaked. "They sent him to Azkaban...But didn't he tell them what really happened or something?"

"They sent him to Azkaban without a trial..." Harry said softly staring at his feet.

James walked over to Sirius and said gently, "I'm sorry Sirius...I should have known you would never do that...it's just that when I read that I felt so...I'm sorry..."

"It's ok James...You should know I wouldn't ever do that to you though, I mean...your like a brother to me." Sirius muttered.

"I know...I'm sorry." James repeated.

"But you said you knew me still..." Sirius said suddenly, looking up at Harry. "When we first met, you knew me...And you told me..."

Harry tore his gaze from his shoes and looked at Sirius. "Yea I knew you...You broke out of Azkaban in my third year. Everyone believed you broke out to kill me. At the end of third year we found out what really happened. You broke out because you found out that Pettigrew was at Hogwarts. In perfect position to kill me. He was my friend's rat. Anyway, you told us how it was really him and not you and then you and Lupin forced Pettigrew out of his hiding place and he admitted it. We were going to hand him over to the dementors but he escaped when Lupin transformed...he forgot to take the potion that night...The dementors caught you, but we were able to help you escape before they kissed you. No one would believe the story without Pettigrew...so...you went on the run. And two years later...as you know, you die protecting me..."

"You knew you were going to die?" James asked. "And you didn't tell us?"

"Didn't think there was any point in upsetting anyone..." Sirius said casually.

"You didn't think that would be something we consider important?" Remus asked.

"Well...like I said. What's the point in getting upset...it hasn't happened yet, and I am happy that at the very least it helped Harry..." Sirius said shrugging. He looked back over to Harry and said, "But now I understand why you were so upset...I never thought you wouldn't have Lily and James...And if I was the closest thing to a..."

Harry nodded. "You were. It was great to have someone that really cared about me...outside Hogwarts I mean..."

"So that's it then..." James muttered. "Moony is the last Marauder standing..."

"That must be why I seem so sad in the future..." Remus said thoughtfully.

Surprisingly, Harry smirked. "Yea...but at least you have a great girlfriend..."

Remus went purple. "W-what?"

"Moony's got a girlfriend!" James echoed smiling with glee.

"Yea...Nymphadora Tonks...we just call her Tonks. She's a metamorphmagus...and she's Sirius's cousin." Ginny chimed in smiling.

"Maybe you should talk to your older self about that one Remus..." Harry said.

"Wait a second...I haven't got a cousin named Nymphadora..." Sirius said frowning.

"She hadn't been born yet in your time I guess. She's Andromeda's daughter." Harry replied casually.

"A _younger_ girl, Remus? Moony...you got yourself a _younger_ girl!" James practically squealed.

"That's not possible..." Remus breathed, frowning slightly. "No girl in their right mind would--"

"Remus!" Ginny said sternly. "Before you _even_ start, she knows and she doesn't care! She even fought you about it!"

"Yes she is a determined one..." Harry and Ron laughed.

"Moony...You had better take good care of my cousin there!" Sirius said shaking his finger at Remus while everyone laughed.

-

-

-

Lily, Hermione, Remus. and Sirius were just taking their seats as the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams trooped out onto the field.

"Look, look! There's Harry...and there is James!" Lily squealed pointing at the two raven haired boys.

"Blimey...how can you tell the difference from this distance?" Sirius asked, squinting in their direction.

"A mother always knows..." Hermione stated smugly.

Lily stiffened visably at first, but relaxed slightly as she said "Yes...she does. And don't you forget it! Oh look, there is Ginny and Ron too!"

"Are they any good?" Remus asked Hermione. "I mean I know James is good, and Harry must be great considering James was nearly crying with joy when he said how good practice went."

"They should have let us watch the practices!" Sirius said indignintaly.

"They wanted it to be a surprise!" Hermione said for the hundreth time. "And yes Remus, they are good...Ginny is really good and Ron is definitly better than he was at first. He gets nervous sometimes..."

"Mount your brooms!" Madam Hooch's voice bellowed, and was followed shortly by the shrill blast of her whistle.

The fourteen brooms rose into the air.

"Harry!" James called looking over his shoulder. "Good luck. Make me proud ok!"

Harry's breath caught slightly in his throat. "I'll try!"

"Gryffindor in possesion of the quaffle. I'm sure the question on everyone's mind today is how good is Potter's new recruit. There have been several rumors circulating the past weeks but now they will all be put to the test!" Neville said brightly. He and Luna Lovegood had been alternating as commentaire. "Weasley passes to Thomas, Thomas gets clobbered and drops the quaffle, Parker flying underneath catches it, Parker tosses it to Weasley, Weasley flying down the pitch, Weasley passes back to Parker, PARKER SCORES! 10-0 to Gryffindor! Slytherin takes the quaffle..."

"GO JAMES!" Lily screamed standing on the bleachers.

"_Laura!"_ Hermione said pointedly.

Lily looked utterly confused for a moment and suddenly screamed, "GO JAY!"

"It's a good thing she was yelling...No one seemed to have understood what she was saying!" Sirius said in an undertone as Lily resumed her seat.

"Sorry...got caught up in the moment..." Lily said flushing scarlet.

"Zabini gets hit by the bludger sent his way from Jackson. Weasley with the quaffle, WEASLEY SCORES! Zabini in possesion of the quaffle again. This time dodges the bludger, he shoots...and he scored. 20-10 Gryffindor."

Within the next 15 minutes, Gryffindor had scored 5 more times. Yet there had been no sign of the snitch. Malfoy was marking him for the mostpart.

_I have to get the snitch before Malfoy. I'm not going to lose a game in front of my dad. I need to make him proud. I have to..._

Harry looked above him and saw a glint of gold hovering about 20 feet above him. Malfoy was at the other end of the pitch, still searching frantically below him. Harry turned his broom upward and shot off towards the snitch. He was getting closer. Just 5 more feet. As his fist closed around the snitch he felt a sickening wave of joy unconnected with his own. His scar began burning as if in protest and soon after, everything went black.

-

-

-

"YOU LET ME IN RIGHT THIS MINUTE!" Lily screeched at a very ruffled Madam Pomfrey.

"Ms. you must keep you voice down!" Madam Pomfrey said holding the girl back.

"NOT UNTIL YOU LET ME THROUGH THIS DOOR!" Lily bellowed, still fighting to get inside.

"Madame Pomfrey, I think you should let her in before you loose a hand..." James said smiling slightly.

"Oh all right but only two people!" Madam Pomfrey said resolutly.

Lily ran to Harry's bedside and began to check him over, James in her wake.

"Oh James, look at him! He's so pale...What happened?" Lily asked pleadingly.

"I don't know Lily. That is what we are going to have to ask him when he wakes up." James said shaking his head.

"Thank god you caught him James!" Lily said tearfully.

"I almost didn't..." James said shakily. "Lily, we can't change the future..."

Lily looked at him quizically, "What are you talking about that now for?"

"I just understand why we can't change it. If we do, Harry could die. I don't want him to die. At least we know that if we die when we are supposed to, he will live." James said quietly.

"It's our fate...you're right James, we can't change it. No matter how much we want to be here for him, we can't." Lily said sitting down.

"Lily, we could be here for him now. And that's probably what he needs..." James said sadly.

Ok, ok I know, I'm a bit late aren't I? Wow have I been busy. Between work, school, and golf I'm surprised I have time to sleep! Ok well anyway I'm really sorry and I will try to get better at this. And let me know if you guys think this chapter seems weird/rushed. On to the reviews!

Holly-Short-Evans-Sorry I took so long, but I'm thrilled to have a new reviewer! Lol, sorry bout the cliffe...had to do it. I hope you liked this chapter though! What's your favorite part so far? Let me know what you think, and thanks so much for the review!

maqiquill9- It's here...Finally! I'm sorry I took forever and a week to write this. I feel like I'm letting you all down. I'm going to start writing the next chapter right after I post this! Hopefully that will help me get it out quicker. (Hopefully I'll get it out today!) But anyway, I'm glad I got another new reviewer...and I hope myt lack of updating recently isn't going to stop you from reading this. Well I hope you like the chapter, and let me know what you think. Thanks for reviewing!

Mischievous Crystal- Another new reviewer...you guys are spoiling me. (But I never said stop! ;) ) AND YOUR MY 50TH REVIEWER!I'm so sorry I took so long! I'm going to try to make sure that doesn't happen again. And I'm so glad that you like this! I'm always wondering 'does this sound right' or 'is that to ooc', so let me know what you think about it. Thanks for offering some of the ideas in your stories, I think I have an idea where I'm going with this story, but I want to write some others and maybe a sequel some day so I'm definently going to go check them out (if that's ok, I mean)! Thanks for reviewing and I hope to hear from you again!

Jadeyuy- Thanks! I'm really happy you like it! Sorry it took awhile, but hey, it's up now, right! Thanks for reviewing!

ElvenMuggle- Lol yea, Finally! And once again it took awhile for this one! Life is just getting so hectic now isn't it. Thanks! Glad you liked it! Thanks for reviewing!

Unicorn'sWhisper-Thanks, I'm glad you think so! I feel so bad for making everyone wait so long for this. And this chapter seemed kind of flat when i wrote it, know what I mean. So let me know what you think of it, be brutally honest. And my story should be picking up real soon, so Don't Leave! Well thanks for reviewing, and remember...brutally honest!

madamwolf-Lol, they are a bit nosey aren't they. But your right, can't blame 'em. I agree! Peter is an ugly git! And there will be more Remus in there for you in the next chappie! Thanks for reviewing and be sure to take it easy on those pixie sticks, lol.

NikkyB- It was your favorite chapter! Good, that worked out nicely then didn't it. lol. No I was serious about my job, and thanks! HBP was awesome! I cried too. I'm a h/g too, lol. I'm sorry it took so long to get this one out. And truth be told I'm a bit dissapointed with it. I could have had it out a few weeks ago, but I kept trying to tweak it to make it better...didn't work, and was completely useless! I guess cuz I'm comparing it to what I know is coming next. And I am anxious to write it. lol. I think I might just go and write the end so I can get it out of my system and not rush through all the rest of the story. Anyway thanks for reviewing!

Joanna Potter-I'm starting to really feel bad now! I'm getting all these new reviewers and I'm making them wait over a month for a review! I'm terrible aren't I. I hope your not too angry with me though. Thanks for the review! I'm sort of in the mood to do some anti-wormtail things...lol, won't that be fun. Thanks again!

HP super freak-It was? Only say it if you mean it! lol. Thanks so much! It was obvious stupidness, to put it bluntly, wasn't it! I liked writing that because think of how Sirius must have felt. Your friend walking in and starting to hit you for no apparent reason. Sorry I took so long to get this chapter out. I don't want that to happen again! Thanks again and thanks for reviewing!

pandas rule the world- I liked that part too. I think he should have hit him harder! lol. He really did deserve it (and then some)! Sorry for the month's wait! Hope your not mad at me or anything. Thanks for reviewing.

purrbaby101- lol, I liked the recap though! I'm sorry about the wait. I feel bad for leaving a cliffhanger and then taking my sweet old time with it. I'm glad you liked that last chapter, and I hope you like this one! Let me know what you think. Thanks for reviewing.

OperaGustus- Yea there was quite a bit that happened in that chapter. And thats not a bad suggestion, lol. I'm sorry...I left you on your tip toes for a while there didn't I. I'm sorry, I'll try not to let that happen ever again. Thanks for reviewing and I'll get the next one out a lot sooner!


	12. Attack

Disclaimer: Does anyone really think I own Harry Potter?

I want to start by thanking DDwelling for reviewing chapter 10 while I was updating. I'm sorry I didn't get to thank you last chapter! Thanks though! Hope to hear from you again!

on to the story

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"Can I talk to you?"

Lupin looked up from his papers to see his younger self staring at him from the doorway. "Of course...I was actually expecting you to come sooner than you did...I assume you know then..."

"How did you know?" Remus asked curiously.

Lupin shrugged, "They couldn't keep it quiet forever...especially since Voldemort is around. You were bound to find out sooner or later. Have a seat."

Remus seated himself and squirmed uncomfortably, "Is that really what is going to happen? I...I mean...I can't imagine losing all of them...How did I, or we--how did we get through it?"

"I admit it was hard at first, and it still is sometimes, but in the end you realize that life goes on." Lupin sighed heavily, "Right after Lily and James were killed, I didn't think I would get through it. Then Peter was supposedly killed and Sirius was sent to Azkaban. I can't explain how I felt...how you will feel...but I can tell you that you will get through it and you'll have Dumbledore and a few others to help you through it."

Remus nodded distractedly, "Why though...Why does this have to happen?"

Lupin smiled sadly, "I've been asking myself that ever since it happened."

"How--How did Harry make it through this? First his parents, then Sirius...and being sent to live with those horrible people." Remus said hesitantly.

"Harry has had a very hard life...And it will only get harder..." Lupin trailed off staring into the fire.

"He's the only chance we've got, isn't he?" Remus asked suddenly.

Lupin turned to look at his younger self, and after a short pause said, "Yes...our only chance."

"Leave it to James, to be the father of the world's savior." Remus smiled ruefully. "Do you think he can do it?"

"Yes, I believe he can...but I don't know if he'll be able to make it out..." Lupin said seriously.

They sat in silence for the next couple minutes until Remus spotted a picture on his desk. "Who is that?"

Lupin smiled slightly, "That is Nymphadora Tonks..."

"Oh." Remus said staring at the picture. "She really doesn't mind about...us?"

"Oh I see they've told you," Remus laughed. "No she doesn't care. She made us see that we were worth her time...no matter how hard we fought her on it."

"She seems nice..." Remus said thoughtfully.

"She is. She funny too, and gets along with almost everyone...I don't think she's too fond of the Dursleys or Snape..." Lupin said.

Remus laughed, "Who does, really."

Lupin joined in. Once the laughter died away he said, "Don't worry...you'll be ok...true, it hurts, and you miss them, but...you can't change it...you just have to get through it."

Remus nodded and got up to leave. He paused, however, at the doorway and looked back at Lupin, "But if you could change it, if no consequences came from it,...would you?"

Lupin looked up at him once again, "In an instant."

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"Hey where were you?" James asked.

"I was talking to Professor Lupin." Remus said casually as he strolled toward one of the armchairs.

"Moony, it's just not healthy to talk to yourself!" Sirius said grinning, from the couch.

"You would know, wouldn't you." Remus replied.

"So what were you talking about anyway?" James asked curiously.

"Nothing really." Remus said evasively. "What are you doing in here anyway? I thought you were stilled glued to Harry's bedside."

James' mood darkened quickly, "Madame Pomfrey kicked us out...said something about how we hadn't eaten in a few days so we were forbidden to enter for 48 hours...load of rubbish, if you ask me."

"Dinner has almost just started and I am a little hungry." Sirius pouted.

"Your always hungry Padfoot!" Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"So...come on! Let's go!" Sirius grumbled.

"Alright, alright!" James sighed, "Let's go then!"

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"Where are they?" Lily mumbled anxiously, pushing her potatoes across her plate.

"Where are who?" Ginny asked.

"Huh?" Lily asked looking up at Ginny.

"You asked 'where they were' and so I asked who you were talking about." Ginny said, raising an eyebrow at Lily.

"Oh...I didn't realize I said that out loud..." Lily mumbled, blushing red.

"Well...you did, so who were you talking about?" Ginny asked curiously.

"I was talking about James and the others..." Lily said quietly, promptly returning to pushing her food around.

"Oh I see...what's going on with you guys anyway?" Ginny said, smiling slyly.

Lily bristled, "We're friends...that's it."

Ginny smiled knowingly, "Uh-huh..."

"Oh just shut it!" Lily snapped, glaring at her friend.

"Has Madame Pomfrey figured out why Harry hasn't woken up yet?" Ron interrupted.

Lily frowned, "No...not yet. She said there was no reason he shouldn't be up yet, and the only explanation was that something was keeping him asleep..."

"That doesn't make any sense..." Hermione said slowly.

"Tell me about it!" Lily sighed. "I'm so worried about him..."

"What's wrong Ginny?" Ron asked suddenly.

"Nothing," Ginny replied firmly. "Nothing..."

"How are you beautiful ladies this evening?" Sirius asked, standing directly behind them.

"Fine thank you." Ginny answered unfazed.

The three of them filed into the empty seats next to Ron.

"I'm glad you guys are here, Lily was getting worried." Ginny said, smirking. Lily turned crimson, and James glanced at her strangely.

"Wonder where Dumbledore is tonight..." Hermione said, staring at the head table.

BANG!

The doors to the Great Hall burst open, and Death Eaters streamed continuously through the doors.

"Prefects, get the students to the dorms!" McGonagall yelled, pulling out her wand, the teachers following suit. The words were barely out of her mouth when all other exits off of the Great Hall flew open as well, and the Death Eaters kept flooding in. There was no more hope of escape. They would have to fight this one.

"Why didn't the wards sound!" Hermione yelled, as the benches overturned.

"They must have found a way around them!" Lily replied, ducking under a stunner.

"Well...it sure looks like Voldemort has been recruiting." Sirius yelled over the noise, and throwing a hex at one of the closer death eaters.

"What are they doing here anyway!" Ron yelled. "Are they after Harry again or..."

"Well they are sure as hell not going to get him!" James roared, stunning a death eater.

"We have to get to him first!" Lily screamed, turning to James.

His eyes opened wide in fear and he started running to her, but a death eater stepped in his path. "Lily look out!"

Lily turned around slowly, coming face-to-face with a death eater that promptly fastened his hand around her throat, his wand pointed in her face. Her wand slipped from her hand as he lifted her off the ground, gasping and struggling for breath. But it stopped, almost as soon as it started. She looked up from her heap on the floor to see that James had stunned him.

"Are you alright?" He asked, checking her over as he lifted her from the floor.

"I'm fine." She breathed.

"Let's go, we've got to find a way to get to Harry." James said looking around the Hall, still holding tight to her hand. "There is no one blocking that door, now come on."

They ran for the door and managed to escape through it. They found themselves in small lit chamber surrounded with portraits.

"There is no way out!" Lily whined.

"Don't be so sure." James said with a smile. "Remember your with a marauder...Violet, will you please open your portrait?"

The portrait looked startled, but opened obligingly, revealing a small tunnel, lit with torches.

"It leads to the corridor near the dungeons." James said shortly, pulling her with him into the tunnel.

"James...how did you find this?" Lily asked looking around the tunnel in awe.

"Vi is a friend of the Fat Lady...We met her one night when we came back late from pulling a prank on the Slyth---well from pulling a prank, and while the Fat Lady was telling us off, Sirius was flirting with Vi...She told us to come visit her sometime, and she let it slip about the secret passage way..." James whispered, continuing to pull her as he quickened his pace.

"How much further is it?" Lily asked quietly.

"It's just around this corner..." James said, as the rounded it and came face-to-face with a wall.

"What do were do?" Lily asked.

"Pull this." James said as he pulled the empty torch bracket next to him and the wall slid open. They stepped out into the main corridor leading toward the dungeons.

"Come on, it's this way." James said tugging on her hand. He was about to turn the corner when Lily stopped him.

"W-" James started, but was cut short when Lily clapped her hand over his mouth, shaking her head with wide eyes. That's when he heard it. Voices. He peeked around the corner and saw them. A small huddle of death eaters. He stared at them for a minute and them turned to Lily.

"Lily, look...I have an idea." He whispered. "I'm going to run ahead, if I remove the glamour charm I'll look like Harry so they will think I'm him. They should come after me, which will give you time to run for it. Then I want you-"

"Oh course they'll run after you! No, if your going so am I!" Lily whispered angrily.

"I need you to get to Harry!" James said quietly. "I'll be the decoy. When they start running after me, I want you to summon my invisibility cloak...it should help you get through them."

"I can't let you-" Lily protested.

"You have to get to Harry. He can't defend himself. I'll be fine..._Finite Incantatem_!" James whispered and before Lily could make another sound he threw himself from around the corner and charged in their direction yelling, "Stupefy!"

James managed to stun a few of them before streaking past them, running as fast as he could and the death eaters hot on his heels.

Lily let out a shaky breath and said, "A-_accio invisibility cloak_." She waited a few minutes until the silver cloak came to her and she put it on mumbling, "I hope James will be alright."

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"Get him! Get Potter!" One of the death eaters bellowed to the others, as they reached the Entrance Hall.

James laughed as several spells shot at him and he dodged them. "It's not that easy to get a marauder!" He mocked.

There was a sickening crack as he hit the wall, and his wand flew out of his hand.

"Au contraire..." Lucius sneered, looming over James. "Mr. James Potter...it's been far too long..."

"You...you know?" James asked, squinting up at Lucius, and holding his head with his hand.

"Of course I know. The Dark Lord knows too, Potter. He is most anxious to see you again..." Lucius smirked.

"So he's not after--" James trailed off.

Lucius laughed, "No...not this time. This time he wants you...And your darling little Lily..._Stupefy_!"

James's eyes widened at the mention of Lily, and then everything went black.

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"Wormtail, Mcnair get over here!" Draco snarled.

'_Wormtail...that's Peter_!'Lily thought furiously.

"My father has sent word that they've got James." Draco said briskly.

Lily fell to her knees and breathed deeply, and unfortunately, very loudly. The three of them turned, looking around wildly, but they saw nothing.

"W-What was that?" Wormtail whimpered.

"I don't kn--" Malfoy started, but then he caught sight of some kind of movement. "What was--_Accio_!"

The invisibility cloak flew off to reveal Lily sitting on the floor.

"Lily Evans..." Malfoy stated.

"That's not Lily..." Peter interrupted.

"Of course it is..._Finite Incantatem_." Malfoy said, brandishing his wand at Lily.

Her hair turned red again and her eyes changed back to green.

Malfoy laughed. "Mcnair, tell my father we've got the mudblood..._Stupefy_."

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The Death Eaters began running out the doors.

"Why are they retreating?" Remus asked, and he wasn't the only one who was stumped.

"I don't know..." Sirius said, looking around the now Death Eater free Great Hall. "Where's James...and where's Lily?"

"I heard them yelling something about Harry...they must have gone to the hospital wing." Ron said, joining the others.

"Unless...what if the death eaters _weren't_ after Harry." Hermione said, frowning.

Sirius and Remus didn't wait for her to finish, they were already rushing to the hospital wing.

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Harry sat up groggily, rubbing his head.

'_I feel like I've been hit by a train_!' Harry thought slowly.

BANG!

Harry looked up quickly at the door. He sighed in relief, "I'm glad it's you guys...for a minute there, I thought it was going to be death eaters or something."

Sirius, Remus and now Ginny, Ron, and Hermione stood white faced in the doorway.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Harry asked upon seeing their faces.

"There not here!" Hermione cried.

Harry was starting to get really confused. "Who's not here?"

"Then that means..." Ginny said breathlessly.

"Will somebody please tell me what's going on?" Harry asked angrily. His head was really starting to hurt.

"Death Eaters just attacked the school..." Ron mumbled.

Harry's breath caught in his throat, as he jumped to his feet. "And!"

"And...we don't know where Lily and James are." Sirius finished horror-struck.

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Soooo...shuffles feet nervously what do you think?

Thanks to my Reviewers!

purrbaby101- Wow thanks! You're definently the first person to tell me that! I'm glad you liked it! Yea they do understand pretty well what's good for him, don't they. I hope you liked this chapter as much as you did the last one! Thanks again for reviewing and all the nice things you said!

Patriot Girl-I'm glad you liked it! And I get another new reviewer! I feel so cool! Well thanks! I hope I didn't make you wait that long. And I hope you review again, just let me know what you think! Thanks again!

Holly-Short-Evans- Lol, I hope you liked this chapter then! Remus is such a shy guy, lol. I hope you liked this chapter. Tell me what you do and don't like about it and all of that. Thanks for reviewing!

Joanna Potter- We are definently on our way to some of that! Let me know if you have any requests! lol. Thanks for being so understanding! Glad you liked it! Hope you liked this one too! Thanks for the awesome review!

Unicorn'sWhisper- Well then what did you think of this one? Rushed, not rushed, ok, good, terrible? I'm glad you loved it! You made me feel like I have finally done something right! lol. Thanks for the review! Oh and is there anything you think could be better in this...like kind of a future reference type thing so I never do it again and know what to watch out for, lol.

cutiepiepink angel- A new reviewer! And one that is amazingly nice! I must be like the luckiest person ever! I hope this chapter was up to you expectations, or standards. And I hope you liked it! Thanks for reviewing! (And I hope you do again!)

pandas rule the world-Yea he is, I'll explain more why he didn't wake up for so long in the next chapter! So...whadda think? Did this chapter totally suck? I hope it didn't, but let me know what I need to work on! Thanks for reviewing.

madamwolf- I think this chapter had an excellent start! Didn't you! Lol, hope you liked it. It's alright if your not over that, lol, I fully support you! Let me know what you think and if the Remus-Remus conversation was up to scratch! Thanks for reviewing!

Evenstarchild- Thanks I'm glad you like it! And I'm glad to have another reviewer! This story would be nothing without you guys! Let me know if there is something that you don't like or you think needs work and I'll try to make it happen! I hope you liked this chapter. Can't wait to hear from you again, thanks for the review!

maqiquill9- Yea, I would have been upset if I had abandoned it too. I love writing this story, and I am going to finish it...have no idea how long it will take, but I will finish it! lol! I'm glad you like the last chapter, hope you like this one too! Let me know what you think! Do I need to work on anything? I feel like I rushed this chapter...did I? Does it seem like that? Is it bad? Thanks for reviewing!


	13. Rescue Mission

Disclaimer: I don't own it. What can you do, right?

"W-what? What do you mean?" Harry breathed.

"We...we don't know where Lily and James are..." Hermione said despairingly.

The silence stretched out, making minutes seem like hours.

"What do you think your doing!" screeched Madame Pomfrey, bustling over to Harry and attempting to force him back onto the bed.

"Get off of me!" He yelled, shrugging her off and heading once again towards the door.

Hermione caught him by the arm quickly, "Harry, don't just rush into this! We need to come up with some sort of plan!"

"DON'T RUSH INTO THIS!" Harry roared, "WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO SIT HERE! IF VOLDEMORT HAS THEM DO YOU THINK HE'LL WAIT TO KILL THEM!"

"But if you just charge on in there, you're bound to get killed mate. I mean, they'd be expecting you to come!" Ron said, shaking his head in defeat.

Harry glared at them, "It doesn't matter...if he kills my parents now, I'll die anyway." Ron looked up at him sharply, realization dawning on his face and surprisingly Harry smirked and said, "Might as well take a few of them down with me, right?"

"We still need to come up with some sort of plan...I mean we don't even know where they are!" Hermione said sternly.

"Dumbledore would though..." Harry said slowly.

"And I'm sure that Dumbledore is going to tell you how to find them so you can charge right on in there, all reason forgotten! He would just send the Order wouldn't he!" Hermione quipped.

Harry smiled sadly, "No...he would tell me...he knows he has to..."

Ron frowned, "What are you going on about?"

"Oh will you all just shut up! Harry knows what he's talking about! Now is not the time!" Ginny bellowed at them all.

Harry gave her a quick smile and said, "She's right, now is not the time. Right now we need to talk to Dumbledore--"

Hermione cut him off, "That another problem! Dumbledore wasn't at dinner, and I doubt he would sit in his study while the school was being attacked!"

"Accio Marauder's Map!" Sirius said abruptly. The worn piece of parchment fluttered into the room and he snatched at it. After a pause he said, "No sign of Lily and James...or Dumbledore..."

Hermione huffed and yelled, "OF COURSE THERE'S NO SIGN OF THEM! NOW WE NEED A PL--"

"SHUT UP!" Sirius roared, "THAT IS MY BEST FRIEND OUT THERE AND I DON"T SEE YOU DOING ANYTHING TO HELP! WE KNOW A PLAN WOULD BE GOOD AND ALL BUT WE DON'T HAVE A YEAR TO PLAN THIS RESCUE MISSION!"

"Enough." Harry growled. "We can't be fighting right now! I think I might know where they took them...We need to contact the Order! Someone needs to tell McGonagall to get the Order to the Riddle House!"

"And how are we going to get there?" Remus asked quickly.

"A portkey." Harry answered shortly.

"But you need a really good picture of the place you want to go to make a portkey!" Hermione breathed.

"Trust me...I'd wouldn't forget that place very easily..." Harry said harshly. "I'm going to go get my cloak and anything else I might need. You guys do the same, and Hermione can inform McGonagall. We'll meet back in the common room."

"What else would you need?" Ron asked curiously.

Harry stared at him for a moment, "I really have no idea..."

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"Good work...wake them up."

"_Ennervate._"

James groaned, "What in the--"

"Hello, Potter...it's nice to see you up finally..."

"Voldemort." James breathed. "Sorry I can't say the same."

Voldemort laughed cruelly. "You always did have a sense of humor...even before I killed you..._Crucio_."

James gulped involuntarily before the curse hit him full on. His screams echoed in the large room. He got to his feet shakily as Lily began to stir.

"The Mudblood is waking up as well...even better."

"Don't call her that!" James growled, when Voldemort started laughing again. Lily stood up and looked around nervously. They were surrounded by a circle of Death Eaters.

"Wh-what's going on?" Lily breathed shakily.

"Oh nothing really," Voldemort said lazily, "Me and James were just catching up on old times...We are so glad you could join us...After all, it has been _so _long since my death eaters have had any _fun_..._Crucio!_"

James pushed Lily behind him, taking the curse for her. He fell to his knees screaming amid the death eaters' laughter.

"James! James are you all right?" Lily cried falling next to him and trying to help him up.

"James, James, James..." Voldemort muttered, shaking his head. "Why do always try to protect her...you did the same thing before you died...protecting a Mudblood, how much lower can you get?"

"You're not going to touch her!" James snarled, standing up and once again shielding Lily.

Voldemort laughed, softly at first, but growing mockingly with each second.

"You really think you can stop me?" he breathed, "You really think you stand a chance against _me_?"

James glared at him, his hatred shown plainly on his face, "_You're not going to touch her!_ You'll have to kill me first!"

"That won't be a problem...I've already done it once before." Voldemort said narrowing his eyes. "_CRUCIO_."

James's eyes widened slightly as the curse came hurtling towards him. When it was about a foot away from him, another curse came out of nowhere colliding with it, and sending it flying into the wall of death eaters.

"Get away from them!" Harry snarled.

"Ah, Harry! How nice of you to join us!" Voldemort sneered. "We were just discussing the best way for me to kill them, what do you think? You are their son after all, I think you should have some input."

Harry smirked, "They're not the ones that are dying today Tom..."

Voldemort's face contorted with rage and he hissed, "How dare you call me by that filthy muggle's name. If you wanted them to watch you die first, all you had to do was ask! _Crucio_!"

Harry didn't have time to dodge it and the curse hit him full on. He fell to the ground and began to writhe and scream in pain. Flashes of images sprang up in his mind. Voldemort killed everyone he ever loved. Voldemort was why he had missed out getting to know his parents. But he finally had that chance now, and if he didn't stop Voldemort here and now he would lose them forever. Suddenly the pain stopped and his screams faded, yet he was still being held under the curse. He looked up at Voldemort, his eyes blazing with an emerald fire, and slowly returned to his feet. Voldemort's eyes widened in fear and confusion.

Harry smirked, "You shouldn't underestimate everyone, Tom."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed darkly, "You are nothing compared to my power."

Harry's smirk grew, "Then prove it."

"Thought you'd never ask." Voldemort said icily. "_Avada Kedavra._"

Harry dodged the curse, "_Sectumsempra_."

"_Crucio._" Voldemort screamed narrowly avoiding the spell.

The curse hit it's target, but once again, Harry felt no pain. Instead he began glowing a bright white, and the curse backfired, hitting Voldemort squarely in the chest. Voldemort's scream pierced the night. No one had ever hit the Dark Lord with his own curse.

A jet of red light flew over his head. Sirius, Remus, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and the Order had arrived, and the Death Eaters began to join the fight.

"What's going on with Harry?" Hermione asked, dodging a stunner and sending one over her own.

"I'm not sure...he's not himself...why are his eyes glowing like that?" Ron answered, ducking a jet of green light.

"I don't know, I need to get to James and Lily though." Sirius yelled, and tore off in that direction, sending curses at passing Death Eaters.

"Stupefy!" Sirius yelled, sending the stunner at the Death Eater guarding Lily an James, hitting him directly in the small of the back.

"Are you guys ok?" Sirius asked, handing Lily the fallen Death Eater's wand.

"I'm fine but I'm not sure about James." She answered, glancing him over worriedly.

"I'm just peachy Sirius." James groaned. "I feel like I was hit by a truck! What took you so long to get here?"

"Well if that's the thanks I get for saving your butt..." Sirius growled irritably. "At least I got here! We had to wait for the Order. Besides, Harry wanted to come in alone."

"Why'd you let him do that Sirius! You're supposed to watch out for him! He could have gotten killed!" Lily said sternly.

Sirius frowned at her, "He said he could get past easier alone. And by the looks of it he has everything under control..."

"I guess you're right..." Lily said watching the battle in wonder.

"_Petrificus Totalus."_ Ginny said, effectively stopping a Death Eater that was sneaking up on them.

"Ginny!" Lily breathed.

"You guys alright?" She asked. They all nodded. "Good, now you guys should really keep an eye out for that sort of thing!"

Sirius looked towards James. "Can you still fight?"

"Of course I can still fight!" James said with his eyebrows raised. "You think I'd let you have all the fun?"

He picked up a discarded wand and Sirius smirked and said, "I hoped you would say that, now let's go fight those Death Eater scum!"

Voldemort glared at the Harry. "You will regret that Potter! _Avada Kedavra_!"

But he didn't aim the curse at Harry. It was hurtling in the opposite direction, heading for his friends. Harry inhaled deeply and held his hand out toward the curse, almost like he was trying to grab at it. The curse kept flying. It was about to hit Hermione when suddenly, it stopped. Harry clenched his fist and the curse disappeared all together. Harry growled deeply, his eyes still flashing bright green.

"You shouldn't have done that Voldemort. Come after me if you want, but leave my friends out of this. Your fight is with me." Harry breathed.

"You are nothing." Voldemort screeched. "I am the all powerful Dark Lord! You are nothing!"

"Some Dark Lord." Harry said, his eyes narrowing. "You are a coward, Voldemort. Nothing more than a coward. You took everything from me. Everything I cared about. I won't let you do it again. You will never do this to anyone ever again."

The ground began shaking. Harry started mumbling something under his breath. A golden light erupted from his wand and enveloped Voldemort completely. A series of high pitch screams emitted from the golden light, and then the ground stopped shaking and everything went silent. The bright light faded to reveal nothing. Voldemort was nowhere to be seen. Ginny ran up and caught Harry just as he fell.

"You were right Ginny...I did it." Harry said softly.

"I told you that you would." Ginny responded, resting Harry's head on her lap.

Harry smiled slightly, and then passed out.

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I won't give an excuse. I know I'm terribly late and very sorry to you readers that are still going to put up with me! This chapter was really hard for me to write...really really hard. I don't think I've ever suffered from writers block before this. And it's not even that long! But it's summer now, so I can devote more time to finishing this fic! I'll never abandon it, just have patience with me...I'm quite hopeless! Just please don't hate me for it! I will start on the next chapter today, and hopefully I'll finish it. I have a good solid 4 hours, so at the very least I'll get a good start on it. Now to thank all my reviewers who would have had every right to threaten to beat me with a large stick!

Pandas rule the world-Well what do ya think? Hope you liked it, and I hope you haven't given up on me! Thanks for reviewing!

beachbabe12- Glad you liked it. Hope this chapter was worth the really long wait. (which i'm really sorry about by the way!) Thanks for the lovely review!

Opal Koboi and Emerald eyes- Sorry it took so long. Glad you liked it though. Hope you aren't too mad at me. What did you think of this chapter? Up to your expectations, or a huge let down? Thanks for reviewing!

Unicorn'sWhisper-Sorry it wasn't as quick this time! I'm really going to try and fix that in the future. Haha, don't worry I'll bash them both! Thanks for the review!

Magicquill9- Yea sorry about that! I hope I didn't do the same thing in this chapter. Thanks for the compliments and the review!

potterlover- Glad you really like it. Hope you're not too terribly mad about the wait. I'm sorry! Thanks for the support and for reviewing!

Jaeden- Sorry! I loved you're review though! It made me laugh! You're probably glaring daggers at me for the super long wait though...I did try though. I'm still really sorry! Hope this chapter was worth it. Thanks for reviewing, and I love your pen name by the way!

madamwolf-Glad you loved it! You know I put that in there for you! I do enjoy doing it I guess you could say! Haha. Anyways, sorry there wasn't too much Remus action in this one...there will be a lot in the next chapter, so never fear! Thanks for being such a faithful reviewer!

SpellMasters-It's finally here...Just a little later than I'd hoped. Sorry to keep you waiting. Hope you liked this chapter though. And I hope I didn't discourage my new reviewer to give up on me! I know I'm terribly hopeless, but you reviewers keep me going and keep me on track. Let me know what you think. Thanks for the wonderful review, and I completely understand if you hate me and want to beat me over the head with something...I'd deserve it.

OperaGustus- Hope you liked this chapter! And I hope you don't hate me! Thanks for reviewing!

purrbaby101-Thanks for reviewing! And for the compliments. Yep they wanted them alright. Hope you liked this chapter!

cutiepiepink angel- Thanks! I'll try to be better in the future! Thanks for reviewing. Hope this chapter was up to par!

Joanna Potter- That LV is a sly one isn't he. Glad you liked it. Harry didn't wake up sooner because Voldemort was keeping him asleep so he could attack the school and get Lily and James without his interference. Voldemort was using their connection to keep him unconscious. Fun, huh? I loved that conversation too! Lol, glad it made you laugh! Hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

The Wandmaker-Hope this wasn't as expected either. Hope you liked it! Thanks for reviewing!

Patriot Girl- Glad you loved it, hope you like this one just as much. Sorry to keep you waiting so long. Hope you did well on your vocab test too! Thanks for reviewing!

VFPC- Sorry! I'll be better I promise! Just KEEP reading! I'll finish it I promise! Hope you liked this one! Thanks for reviewing!

Kates Master-I'm glad you like it. And that's good that it makes you laugh, that's what I'm here for! Sorry for the wait, but I just couldn't get it right. This was one of the biggest chapters and when it came to writing it I broke! I couldn't think of anything! Hope you liked this chapter just as much. And I promise to update quicker! Thanks for the amazingly nice review!

NikkyB- I will finish this fic, I promise! And I like to keep my promises! Where have I been? Mostly I've been at wreslting practice. But if it helps practice is completely miserable, so I haven't left you all in wonder for so long for something fun. That counts for something right? But wrestling has been over for 4 months so I won't use that as an excuse. In the meantime I was getting my heart broken...yea men suck...well some do...I guess I can't say that now because I am with a truly amazing guy right now, and I have stopped feeling sorry for myself which prompted me to update. But I'm really sorry, I have no excuse for making you wait so long. You guys have been nothing but wonderful to me and i repay you by making you wait for 9 months for an update. I'm truly sorry! I hope you liked this update though! Thanks for bearing with me and being a devoted reviewer.

anonymous-Yea he is a git! Thanks for reviewing! Hope you like this chapter!

gredndforge- I promise to next time if that counts for anything. Thanks for reviewing! Hope you liked it!

Moon Wolf- Good to hear from you again Dragon! I like your new username! Thanks for the compliments! Yea that is a big decision...ecspecially because all you really want is for Harry to be happy...yea tough call...I do know which one I'm leaning more towards though. I hope you'll like it! But there is still a lot more to go before the end! This story is probably about at the halfway mark now. Sorry it took me forever and a day to update! Hopefully it won't happen again! Hope you liked this chapter. Thanks for the review! I loved hearing from you again, I love reading your reviews!

sixpacksirius- Hope you like this chapter! Thanks for the review! I like your penname by the way!

goagirl princess-Sorry it took so long, hope you enjoyed it though! Thanks for reviewing!

robster639-Well thanks! I hope this chapter is worth it! Thanks for the review!


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